Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line

The Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line, also known as the "M-Line", is a partially grade-separated light rail line which forms part of the MBTA's Red Line rapid transit line. The line, which runs through Boston and Milton, Massachusetts, opened on August 26, 1929 as a conversion of a former commuter rail line and exclusively uses historic PCC streetcars for rolling stock. Passengers must transfer at Ashmont to access the rest of the Red Line, which uses heavy rail metro rolling stock.

The term "high speed line" is a historic vestigial designation, distinguishing the exclusive and largely grade-separated right-of-way at a time when most trolleys ran down streets shared with automobiles. The 2.6 miles (4.2 km) route is used only by streetcars and has just two public grade crossings. All stations have low platforms, but all except Valley Road have been retrofitted with wheelchair lifts or wooden ramps for handicapped accessibility.

History and route

The Ashmont–Mattapan Line follows the right-of-way of the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad, opened December 1847. It became part of the Old Colony Railroad and then the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad after 1893. Steam trains were discontinued in 1927 and the line was closed for two years while it was modified for streetcars. There was a debate at that time whether or not to continue subway trains from Boston to Ashmont onwards to Mattapan, but the cost of full-scale subway service was apparently too high for the BERy which then operated it. The line opened from Ashmont to Milton on August 26, 1929, and from Milton to Mattapan on December 21, 1929.

Speed line

Speed line is the art technique which uses streaks to convey the impression of speed. The French artist Ernest Montaut is usually credited with its invention. He used the technique freely in his posters which were produced at a time when auto racing, speedboat racing and aircraft races were in their infancy. The effect is similar to the blur caused by panning in still photography.

Speed lines are frequently used in Japanese manga and anime, of which Speed Racer is a classic example.

References

Mattapan

Mattapan (/mætəˈpæn/) is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts. Historically a section of neighboring Dorchester, Mattapan became a part of Boston when Dorchester was annexed in 1870. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 36,480. Like other neighborhoods of the late 19th and early 20th century, Mattapan developed, residentially and commercially, as the railroads and streetcars made downtown Boston increasingly accessible. Predominantly residential, Mattapan is a mix of public housing, small apartment buildings, single-family houses, and two- and three-family houses (known locally as "Three-Deckers" or "Triple-Deckers"). Blue Hill Avenue and Mattapan Square, where Blue Hill Avenue, River Street, and Cummins Highway meet, are the commercial heart of the neighborhood, home to banks, law offices, restaurants, and retail shops. The new Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public library opened 2009, at a cost of more than $4 million. Mattapan has a large portion of green space within the neighborhood. The Harambee Park, the Franklin Zoo, the Boston Nature Zoo Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, and historic Forest Hill Cemetery can all be considered green space within the neighborhood of Mattapan. Mattapan's demographics are diverse, with a large population of Haitians, Caribbean immigrants, and African Americans.

Mattapan (MBTA station)

Mattapan is the southern terminus of the Ashmont-Mattapan High Speed Line, located at Mattapan Square in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. At the station, trolleys use a balloon loop to reverse direction back to Ashmont. Mattapan is also an important bus transfer station, with ten routes terminating there.

Mattapan station is fully handicapped accessible, with mini-high platforms for boarding trolleys.

History

The Ashmont–Mattapan Line follows the right-of-way of the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad which opened to Mattapan in December 1847. The line was converted to an interurban-style trolley line in the 1920s, with the final section to Mattapan opening on December 21, 1929. The stone depot building, now a restaurant, stands adjacent in Mattapan Square.

The MBTA closed the line on June 24, 2006 to allow a new viaduct to be constructed at Ashmont station. During the closure, all stations on the line were modernized and (except for Valley Road) made handicapped accessible. The decrepit 1929-built shelter and old platforms were replaced by modern platforms with canopies; a new building for MBTA police and bus operations with a community room was built. Trolley service resumed on December 22, 2007.

Blue Hill Avenue (MBTA station)

Blue Hill Avenue is a proposed passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail's Fairmount Line in the Mattapan neighborhood of Dorchester, Boston. The station will consist of a center island platform between the line's two tracks, with handicapped-accessible ramps to Blue Hill Avenue (MA 28) and Cummins Highway. The station is currently in final design; however, it has been significantly delayed due to local controversy and will not open until June 2017.

History

Previous service

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 and lasted until 1944. A station called Mattapan was located at Blue Hill Avenue. A station building was located on the inbound side, with a shelter on the outbound side. (This station was separate from the Dorchester and Milton Branch Railroad's Mattapan station, which still stands in Mattapan Square next to the trolley station that replaced it.)