Blue Hill Avenue - MBTA Commuter Rail Fairmount Line

Blue Hill Avenue opened as an intermediate infill Station on the Fairmont Line on February 25, 2019 due to neighborhood concerns and opposition to the station’s location. The stop is located within a 7 minute, just under a third of a mile walk from the Mattapan Station, the terminus of the Mattapan High Speed Line. With the addition of Charlie Card readers (that issue a special Charlie Ticket) to the line in 2020, the Fairmont Line and this station are designed to operate on par, and with the same exact fare as taking the subway from this area to Downtown Boston. The travel time for the Mattapan High Speed Line to the Red Line to get to South Station is a half-hour minimum, while the Commuter Rail completes the trip in just a scheduled 24 minutes.

The new station contains a single high-level island platform for the two track line nestled in an open cut. This island platform has two entrances, one at either end of the platform, both entirely consisting of ADA accessible ramps leading up between the tracks to road overpasses above. The southern end leads up to the Cummins Highway, the northern end leads up to Blue Hill Avenue. The ramps are long enough that a few benches are provided in the middle of them to allow passengers to take rests as they enter and leave the station. There are even benches at the small entrance areas at street level.

These ramps are both completely covered by canopies and connect to separate canopies that cover about one car at the end of each platform. Under these canopies some of the windscreen/station name panels are decorated with historical maps and renderings of the Dorchester Neighborhood of Boston the station is located inside.
Photos 1-52: August 2, 2021, on the first train I got off in over a year post COVID-19.

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