Uphams Corner (MBTA station)

UPHAMS CORNER

Outbound train leaving Uphams Corner in 2011
Location 691 Dudley Street
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°19′09″N 71°04′07″W / 42.3191°N 71.0686°W / 42.3191; -71.0686Coordinates: 42°19′09″N 71°04′07″W / 42.3191°N 71.0686°W / 42.3191; -71.0686
Owned by MBTA
Line(s)
  Fairmount Line
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2
Connections MBTA Bus: 15, 41, 191
Construction
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 1A
History
Opened 1855; November 3, 1979;[1]
October 5, 1987[1]
Closed 1944; January 30, 1981[1]
Rebuilt January 23, 2007[2]
Previous names Stoughton Street (until 1880s)
Dudley Street (1880s - June 15, 1924)[3]
Traffic
Passengers (2013) 166 (weekday average boardings)[4]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
toward Readville
Fairmount Line
Franklin Line
Limited service

Uphams Corner is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Fairmount Line, located on Dudley Street in the Uphams Corner area of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was reopened in 1979 after the line had been closed for 35 years. The station is fully handicapped accessible with two full-length high-level platforms and ramps to the street, which were added during a construction project that finished in 2007.[2] The Uphams Corner business district is within easy walking distance.

History

Original station

Service on the Fairmount Line (as the Dorchester Branch of the Norfolk County Railroad and later the New York and New England Railroad and New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad) began in 1855, although it was frequently out of service until 1867.[5] The service included a stop at Stoughton Street near Uphams Corner; a Cottage Street station was also briefly located a block to the north.[6][7] The station was renamed Dudley Street in the 1880s after the street was renamed between the railroad and Uphams Corner.[8][9][10]

In the 1900s, the station was rebuilt, with buildings on both sides of the tracks connected by a pedestrian tunnel.[11][12] On June 15, 1924, the station was again renamed as Uphams Corner, possibly to avoid confusion with Dudley Street Terminal.[3] Undercut by streetcars, buses, and the Elevated for decades, service on the line ended in 1944.[5]

MBTA station

The station's full-length accessible high-level platforms were added in the 2006 reconstruction

The Dorchester Branch (also known as the Midland Route) was reopened as a bypass on November 3, 1979 during Southwest Corridor construction, including stops at Uphams Corner, Morton Street, and Fairmount.[1] Uphams Corner was originally built at minimal cost, with small low-level platforms and staircases to Dudley Street. Intended to be only in service for several years, the station was not handicapped accessible.

Uphams Corner and Morton Street were dropped on January 30, 1981 as part of systemwide cuts.[1] Service over the route was intended to be temporary; however, it was popular with residents of the communities the line passed through. When the Southwest Corridor reopened on October 5, 1987, the Fairmount shuttle service was retained, with Uphams Corner and Morton Street reopened.[1]

The station was rebuilt in 2005-2007 as part of the larger Fairmount Line Improvements project, which also included four new stations along the line.[13] A groundbreaking was held on April 14, 2005.[14] The rebuilding included new full-length high-level platforms, ramps to Dudley Street, canopies, and new lighting and signage. The new, fully handicapped-accessible station was officially reopened on January 23, 2007.[2][15]

In the mid-2010s, Uphams Corner station became locally known for high rates of heroin use at the lightly used and largely unpatrolled station.[16]

Bus connections

Nearby Uphams Corner has long been a transfer point between streetcar and bus lines. Two regular bus routes serve the station directly via Dudley Street:[17]

Additionally, the 191 - Mattapan - Haymarket via Ashmont, Fields Corner and Dudley route (a single early-morning round trip for fare collectors) stops at the station, as do a pair of rerouted afternoon route 16 trips for school service.[1] (All other route 16 trips, as well as all route 17 trips, instead stop several blocks to the east of the station at Uphams Corner itself.)[17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Belcher, Jonathan (23 April 2012). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "State Implementation Plan – Transit Commitments Monthly Status Report" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  3. 1 2 Jacobs, Warren (October 1928). "Dates of Some of the Principal Events in the History of 100 Years of the Railroad in New England. 1826-1926". The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (17): 15–28.
  4. ↑ Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates (April 2017). "Increasing Ridership on the Fairmount Line: Final Report" (PDF). The Boston Foundation. p. 12.
  5. 1 2 Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 295–298. ISBN 0942147022.
  6. ↑ KKO and Associates (15 October 2001). Fairmount Line Feasibility Study: Task One:Assessment of Existing Conditions (Draft). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  7. ↑ "Part of Ward 16, Dorchester". Atlas of County of Suffolk, Massachusetts. G.M. Hopkins & Co. 1874 – via WardMaps.
  8. ↑ "Index Map to Atlas of Boston". City Atlas of Boston, Massachusetts. G.M. Hopkins & Co. 1882 – via WardMaps.
  9. ↑ "Parts of Wards 20 & 24, Dorchester". Atlas of the City of Boston. G.W. Bromley and Co. 1889 – via WardMaps.
  10. ↑ Leo S. (26 December 2009). "Railroad Stations in Dorchester". Dorchester Atheneum. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  11. ↑ "Parts of Wards 16 & 20, Dorchester". Atlas of the City of Boston (4 ed.). G.W. Bromley and Co. 1904 – via WardMaps.
  12. ↑ "Parts of Wards 16 & 20, Dorchester". Atlas of the City of Boston, Dorchester. G.W. Bromley and Co. 1910 – via WardMaps.
  13. ↑ O'Sullivan, Jim (30 March 2005). "Concerns Arise over Uphams Corner Station Shutdown Details". Dorchester Reporter. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "MBTA Begins Upgrading Fairmount Line" (PDF). TRANSreport. Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization. May 2005. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  15. ↑ Daniel, Mac (23 January 2007). "Uphams Corner rail upgrade unveiled". Boston Globe – via Proquest Historical Newspapers. (Subscription required (help)).
  16. ↑ O'Hara, Kelli (28 September 2015). "7News Special Report: Heroin Hotspot". 7News. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  17. 1 2 "Uphams Corner Station Neighborhood Map" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 2012. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
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