Fairmount - MBTA Commuter Rail Fairmount Line

Fairmount is a stop on the Midville Branch, and the namesake of it although all trains continue to Readville where they end at the Northeast Corridor (Providence/Stoughton Branch) with a few trains through routed to the Franklin Branch. The station, along with Hyde Park (just a 10 minute walk away along the Northeast Corridor) were originally both the first stops in Zone 1, with much higher Commuter Rail Fares, compared to the inner Boston Zone 1A with fares equal to a subway ride and accepting all montly and weekly transit passes. Under the Fairmont Branch pilot the stop's fare zone was changed to Zone 1A (Hyde Park nearby stayed in the more expensive Zone 1), to encourage passengers to take the Fairmont Branch trains (which were increased in frequency to every 45 minutes) instead of Local Buses to the Red Line to get into Boston. In addition each platform was outfitted with a special Charlie Ticket Vending machine where a passenger can tap a charlie card and gets a free Charlie Ticket for a Commuter Rail Ride if they have a valid unlimited ride pass or get's a fare deducted and put on a Charlie Ticket if they have regular cash on their Charlie Card and gets free transfers to local buses, just like if they were riding a subway or trolley line.

The stop is located at ground level and has two tracks with two side platforms. When I visited in 2011 the outbound platform it was closed due to construction. The two platforms are located just north of the William P. Slattery Bridge that Fairmount Street uses to cross the railroad tracks and Neponset River Resrvation. The platforms both have short high-level platforms that can platform about a car at their southern ends before steps lead down low-level platforms that continue farther north. The main access to each platform is via two separate ramps with staircases cutting down some of the unnessary looping. Each begins along the southside of Fairmont Street on its bridge with a long ramp that turns 180 degrees before arriving at the southern end of its respective platform. Additional access to the inbound platform is via a driveway called 3rd New Way that comes down from Fairmont Street. The outbound platform has a small parking lot of 51 spaces that end with bollards directly along the low-level platform where Maple Street that crosses beneath the tracks meets Nott Street at a small Auto Care Center.
Photos 1-25 taken on 15 December, 2011; 26-39: August 2, 2021, on the first train I boarded in over a year post COVID-19.

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