Looking to February 2013 as the time when the Newmarket commuter rail station will begin to engage riders and, its boosters say, help to bridge communities along the growing Fairmount line, local, state, and MBTA officials toured the construction site yesterday morning as a steady rain pelted down.

Station construction began last December and T officials say the 800-foot long platform is about a third of the way towards completion and will likely see its first commuters by early 2013. The $7.6 million stop is one of four additions to the Fairmount line, which runs 9.2 miles from South Station to Readville, and is expected to draw more shoppers and attract commercial and residential developments to the area. Thre price tag to the state for the new stations is $135 million.

The Newmarket business district is currently home to more than 1,000 businesses ranging from the big-box retail stores in the South Bay Mall to food processing and light industrial plants and nets an estimated $4 billion in revenue annually.

Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray called the Fairmount line additions strategic investments in the future of the area and said “Newmarket Station and other stations along the Fairmount Line will not only create construction jobs but also spur economic growth beyond the construction phase in neighborhoods surrounding this part of the city.”

Dorchester Bay Economic Development Center executive director Jeanne Dubois said her organization has been fielding an increasing number of calls from potential developers interested in starting commercial and residential projects along the line, but she noted that people already employed near the station will see its benefits firsthand.

“The average commute for people living along the corridor is one hour and 15 minutes. When these stations open, they could change to anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes,” Dubois said. “Just think of how that changes your life. You’ll have two more hours a day.”

In an effort to encourage ridership and make the Fairmount line a financially viable option for low-income workers, Richard Davey, the state’s transportation secretary, announced that riders using any of the new stations to get into South Station will pay a fare equivalent to the cost of a ride on Boston’s subway system. However, he said, riders coming from Hyde Park and Readville will continue to pay higher fares.

“That’s the commitment we’ve made; it’s a matter of equity,” Davey said, adding that the state could consider similar price cuts for the more distant stops in the future. “Folks are only going a number of miles to get into South Station.”

State Rep. Carlos Henriquez said that while the new station will be a boon to light industry and retail destinations in the area, he hopes to encourage residential development around job centers in a mixed-use model used by area hospitals.

“The jobs are built in [to the area] and residential can be built around that area. I would love to see that housing married to the areas economic engines,” Henriquez said. “If you have a workforce that’s never late because they’re walking three to four blocks to work, it makes it that much better of a hub.”

While some see a future in mixed-use development near the station, Newmarket Business Association executive director Sue Sullivan, who represents more than 200 of the area’s industrial companies, said the realities of living in an industrial area make the prospect of nearby housing unlikely.

“Residential [development] usually follows train stations because they create community access, but the reality is that light industrial and residential rarely mix,” Sullivan said. “Nobody wants to be living next to a company that’s getting deliveries at 5 a.m., their trash pickup at 6 or a 24-hour operation that keeps their lights on all night.”