A bevy of elected officials led by Gov. Healey visited the Morton Street station on the Fairmount Line Tuesday morning to hail a state-approved plan to spend $54 million to introduce a new battery-powered electric train propulsion system along the corridor by 2028.

MBTA general manager Phillip Eng says Fairmount will be ‘model’ for other lines.

Healey marked the move as historic, and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said it was slated to be the model for commuter rail lines of the future.

“We’re proud to say from South Station to Dorchester to Mattapan and to Hyde Park will be the first commuter rail line in Massachusetts to provide 100 percent electric train service,” said Healey. “That is a big, big deal. It’s long talked about by neighbors and we’re finally doing it. And we’re starting this in communities that need it and deserve it first.”

The Fairmount Line includes multiple stations in Dorchester and Mattapan, including Blue Hill Avenue, Talbot Avenue, Four Corners, Morton Street, Uphams Corner and Newmarket. It has been greatly enhanced with several new stations and additional frequency over the last ten y
ears.

Healey said the investment would “deliver more frequent, reliable service while also moving Massachusetts forward on our climate goals.”
Eng added that in addition to being more environmentally friendly, the new equipment will bring faster, quieter, and more reliable service to the line. He said the current frequency of every 30 minutes would be cut down to every 20 minutes, allowing for more of a subway-like experience.

State Rep. Brandy Fluker-Oakley noted, as did Four Corners activist Mela Bush, that the trains for most of their lives did not even stop in these communities – they just rumbled through, emitting pollution and bypassing those who could have used the ride.

“Marilyn Forman and I grew up in Four Corners and we used to only see freight trains and the circus trains bringing the animals to the circus,” Bush recalled. “The animals going to the circus could get on that line, but we couldn’t.”

Four Corners native Mela Bush, co-chair of the Fairmount Indigo Transit Coalition.

That thought drew out some emotion, and Bush, fighting tears, talked about how far the line has come since then – it’s now bordering on a viable transportation corridor for Dorchester and Mattapan.

Keolis, which will be charged with carrying out the plan, said it will be ready to deliver the trains “on the Fairmount Line as early as 2028.”

However, some think that that timeline can be shortened and Healey gave hope it could be the case. “We’re going to do everything we can, pedal to the metal, to deliver this,” she said. “We’d like to beat 2028, so we’re going to talk with our Keolis partners on that.”