Uphams Corner station

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

Uphams Corner
Outbound train leaving Uphams Corner in 2011
Location691 Dudley Street
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°19′09″N 71°04′07″W
Owned byMBTA
Line(s)Dorchester Branch
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
Connections MBTA Bus: 15, 41, 191
Construction
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone1A
History
Opened1855; November 3, 1979;[1]
October 5, 1987[1]
Closed1944; January 30, 1981[1]
RebuiltJanuary 23, 2007[2]
Previous namesStoughton Street (until 1880s)
Dudley Street (1880s - June 15, 1924)[3]
Traffic
Passengers (2018)151 (weekday average boardings)[4]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Four Corners/Geneva
toward Readville
 Fairmount Line Newmarket
toward South Station
Four Corners/Geneva
toward Forge Park/495 or Foxboro
 Franklin Line
Limited service

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 effective January 30, 1981 as part of systemwide cuts.[1][13] 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.[14] A groundbreaking was held on April 14, 2005.[15] The rebuilding included new full-length high-level platforms, ramps to Dudley Street, canopies, and new lighting and signage. The fully accessible station was officially reopened on January 23, 2007.[2][16]

In the mid-2010s, Uphams Corner station became locally known for high rates of heroin use at the lightly used and largely unpatrolled station.[17]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. "State Implementation Plan – Transit Commitments Monthly Status Report" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. April 19, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 1, 2017.
  3. 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". Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. 17: 15–28. JSTOR 43504499.
  4. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  5. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 295–298. ISBN 0942147022.
  6. KKO and Associates (October 15, 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. (December 26, 2009). "Railroad Stations in Dorchester". Dorchester Atheneum. Retrieved May 10, 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. "T changes start today". Boston Globe. February 1, 1981. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. O'Sullivan, Jim (March 30, 2005). "Concerns Arise over Uphams Corner Station Shutdown Details". Dorchester Reporter. Retrieved January 10, 2012.
  15. "MBTA Begins Upgrading Fairmount Line" (PDF). TRANSreport. Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization. May 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 9, 2010. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  16. "Uphams Corner Station Overhaul Complete" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. January 24, 2007.
  17. O'Hara, Kelli (September 28, 2015). "7News Special Report: Heroin Hotspot". 7News. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
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