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Ashmont
Ashmont in September 2012 after the completion of renovations
Location	1900 Dorchester Avenue at 200 Ashmont Street Dorchester, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°17′03″N 71°03′50″W / 42.2843°N 71.0638°W / 42.2843; -71.0638Coordinates: 42°17′03″N 71°03′50″W / 42.2843°N 71.0638°W / 42.2843; -71.0638
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Shawmut Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms (Red Line) 1 side platform (Ashmont-Mattapan Line)
Tracks	2 (Red Line) 1 (Ashmont-Mattapan Line)
Connections	MBTA Bus: 18, 21, 22, 23, 27, 215, 240 BAT: 12
Construction
Bicycle facilities	"Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	September 1, 1928 (Red Line)[1] August 26, 1929 (Ashmont-Mattapan High-Speed Line)[1]
Rebuilt	October 21, 2011[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	Weekday average boardings: 2,036 (Ashmont-Mattapan Line)[3] 9,293 (Red Line)[3]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Shawmut toward Alewife Red Line Ashmont Branch Terminus Terminus Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line Cedar Grove toward Mattapan

Ashmont (signed as Ashmont/Peabody Sq.) is an intermodal transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at Peabody Square in the Dorchester neighborhood, serves the MBTA's Red Line rapid transit line, the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line, and the MBTA Bus system. It is the southern terminus of the Red Line's Dorchester Branch (Ashmont Branch), and the northern terminus of the Ashmont–Mattapan Line. Ashmont station is fully accessible for all modes.

Station layout

History

The New Haven Railroad's Ashmont station in 1923

Trolley loading platforms at the BERy's Ashmont station in 1929

The first Ashmont station was a simple building along the original Shawmut Branch of the Old Colony Railroad, which opened in 1872. That was when steam locomotives powered the passenger trains that continued into Boston with a stop at Fields Corner. The current intermediate Shawmut station was not created as a train stop until the Shawmut Branch of the steam railroad (by then under the New Haven Railroad) was adapted to electrified subway service in the late 1920s and placed underground as it approached Ashmont.

When first built in 1928, no buses served the station; all lines ran streetcars. Specifically, the following Boston Elevated Railway streetcar lines operated to Ashmont (using post-1942 numbers), unloading on the east side and loading on the two west tracks on the west side:

• 
  22 Ruggles via Talbot Avenue


• 
  23 Ruggles via Washington Street, Dorchester


• 
  27 Mattapan Station via River St.

Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway cars to Brockton also used the station.

Two streetcar lines serving the area west of Ashmont were bustituted soon after opening, later becoming the 25 and 26 buses. They were rerouted to Ashmont for faster access to downtown. A new busway was built on the west side of the station in 1929; this has since been connected to the old streetcar ramps. The first section of the Mattapan High Speed Line (originally 28) also opened in 1929, serving the easternmost track on the west side.

The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway line converted to bus in 1932, using the busway. The 27 was bustituted in 1933, and a new route (24, renumbered 12 ca. 1967) serving the area east of the station was also added. Additionally the Eastern Mass started running buses over what are now the 215 and 217 routes.

The ramps were paved, and in 1949 the trolleybus replaced the 22 and 23 lines.

Reconstruction

An Ashmont-Mattapan Line streetcar on the new loop at Ashmont in 2010

In 2005, the MBTA awarded a $35.2 million contract for the complete reconstruction of the 75-year-old Ashmont station. The station was razed by September 2007 and the station was completely rebuilt. Trolley service was interrupted for 18 months, but was restored in December 2007.^[4] The reconstruction was completed in 2009, while architectural work lasted until the summer of 2011.^[5] Highlights of the project included:^[6][7]

• New platforms and an elevated viaduct for the Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line
  


• Two new lobbies with access at the station


• An elevated busway that is level with the new lobbies


• Public access over the subway tunnel to Peabody Square


• Three new elevators and two new escalators


• CCTV security cameras and significantly enhanced lighting


• Charlie Card automated fare vending machines and fare gates

The station construction included of a first-of-its-kind transit-oriented development (TOD) on the station site. The 116 units of mixed-income housing represent the state, city, MBTA, community and a private developer's combined effort to provide housing adjacent to rapid transit, thereby reducing automobile usage.^[5][6]

In September 2011, a "HOLD" sign was installed on the trolley platform to allow an easier connection for those transferring from the Red Line.^[8]

Bus connections

A BAT route 12 bus in the Ashmont busway in 2016

Ashmont is a major terminal for the MBTA Bus system, with seven local routes serving the station busway:

• 
  18 Ashmont Station - Andrew Station via Fields Corner Station
  


• 
  21 Ashmont Station - Forest Hills Station via Morton Street
  


• 
  22 Ashmont Station - Ruggles Station via Talbot Avenue & Jackson Square
  


• 
  23 Ashmont Station - Ruggles Station via Washington Street


• 
  27 Mattapan Station - Ashmont Station via River Street


• 
  215 Quincy Center Station - Ashmont Station via West Quincy & East Milton Square


• 
  240 Avon Square or Holbrook/Randolph Commuter Rail Station - Ashmont Station via Crawford Square, Randolph

The Brockton Area Transit Authority operates one bus route to Ashmont - one of the only non-MBTA routes running to an MBTA rapid transit station:

• Ashmont Route 12

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ashmont station.

• MBTA - Ashmont


• Cambridge Seven Associates project page


• Station from Google Maps Street View