Ashmont–Mattapan High Speed Line

ASHMONT–MATTAPAN HIGH SPEED LINE
An inbound PCC car at Milton
Overview
Type	Light rail
Locale	Boston, Massachusetts (Dorchester to Mattapan) via Milton, Massachusetts
Termini	Ashmont Mattapan
Stations	8
Services	1
Daily ridership	4,637
Operation
Opened	August 26, 1929 (Ashmont to Milton) December 21, 1929 (Milton to Mattapan)
Owner	MBTA
Operator(s)	MBTA
Character	Private right-of-way (largely grade-separated)
Rolling stock	PCC streetcar
Technical
Line length	2.54 miles (4.09 km)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Minimum radius	43 ft (13.106 m)
Electrification	600V Overhead lines
Route map Legend Red Line to Alewife 0 mi (0 km) Ashmont  Red Line  0.35 mi (0.56 km) Cedar Grove 0.95 mi (1.53 km) Butler Neponset River 1.25 mi (2.01 km) Milton Central Ave. 1.54 mi (2.48 km) Central Avenue 1.98 mi (3.19 km) Valley Road Capen St. 2.31 mi (3.72 km) Capen Street 2.54 mi (4.09 km) Mattapan Mattapan Yard/Loop Geographic map of the 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

Most of the right-of-way is grade-separated

Grade crossing at Central Ave station

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.

The portion of the line from Ashmont to Cedar Grove and through a cemetery follows the path of the original Shawmut Branch of the Old Colony Railroad, which opened in 1872. The cemetery is where the Shawmut Branch intersects with the original Dorchester and Milton Branch. The right-of-way is owned by the MBTA and has only two at-grade crossings on its 2.6 miles (4.2 km) route.

The line's longest shutdown started June 24, 2006 while the Ashmont and Mattapan stations were renovated. Service was restored on December 22, 2007. Several of the stations have been renovated for better accessibility and modernization; all stations are now wheelchair-accessible except Valley Road, which is down a grade from the nearest road with no room for a ramp.

Collisions

Using funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the MBTA has been conducting a pilot test of technology similar to a collision avoidance system in an automobile, using radar and increasingly fast beeping to warn train operators of obstacles ahead. Like positive train control, it would stop the train if the driver did not take action to avoid an impending collision. If successful, the system would be considered for deployment on the Green Line, where multiple collisions have occurred in recent years.

On November 26, 2014, an out-of-service car collided with an in-service car near Cedar Grove. Seven people were injured.

Rolling stock

The rolling stock consists of rebuilt PCC streetcars, like those that formerly ran on the Green Line. Unlike most heritage streetcar operations, the Ashmont-Mattapan Line is an integral part of the rapid transit system rather than a tourist attraction. The historic rolling stock is retained largely because the line, built for 1920s streetcars, would have to be substantially rebuilt to accommodate the heavier modern cars used on the Green Line.

The current set of PCC cars have been in continuous revenue service since the late 1940s except for maintenance and rebuild programs. Around 2000, the PCC rolling stock was repainted in Traction Orange and Cream, with a Maroon belt and Black trim, similar to the paint scheme the cars were originally delivered in between 1944 and 1946. The cars also carry a "special" MBTA logo, reminiscent of the old Metropolitan Transit Authority Map Logo found on the cars between 1948 and 1955.

"Snowzilla"

To clear the line of snow, the MBTA maintains a jet engine powered snowblower, officially the Portec RMC Hurricane Jet Snow Blower, model RP-3, dubbed "Snowzilla" by MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo. Snowzilla weighs 26,000 pounds, measures 8 by 12 by 27 feet, and is powered by a Westinghouse J34 turbojet engine. It uses approximately 500 gallons of jet fuel per line clearing run. Other T lines simply run regular trains to clear the tracks of snow, but the older cars on this line would short out if used for that purpose.

Stations

• Ashmont (transfer to Dorchester branch of the Red Line)
• Cedar Grove
• Butler
• Milton
• Central Avenue
• Valley Road
• Capen Street
• Mattapan

Gallery

• 

  Mattapan station platforms, pre-renovation

• 

  Mattapan station after renovation

• 

  PCC car in former Green Line paint at Ashmont in 1999

• 

  Former NYNH&H Mattapan depot; now a Domino's pizza restaurant

External links

• MBTA: Red Line