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Boston's first was the Fairmount Line in 1855. Called Midland Line at the time.
That predates any suburban commuter line, less suburban commuter train system, that I can find. Which is really what we were after, given the entire point of the back and forth was around commuter/train suburbs across legacy cities. Do you have a link for Boston?
I have read about the NYC system in the past. I know they were printing comutation tickets for periods of time as early as the 1860s from the suburbs on a specific train line. That included ferry transfer. So, I suppose, the dates I've found on earliest suburban commuter systems mean multiple direct passenger lines that lent access from the suburbs to the core of the cities.
E.g there was a commuter train in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL, that had 4 rountrips per day into the center of the city circa the 1850s. But it wasn't until decades later that a wide scale commuter system began.
That predates any suburban commuter line, less suburban commuter train system, that I can find. Which is really what we were after, given the entire point of the back and forth was around commuter/train suburbs across legacy cities. Do you have a link for Boston?
I have read about the NYC system in the past. I know they were printing comutation tickets for periods of time as early as the 1860s from the suburbs on a specific train line. That included ferry transfer. So, I suppose, the dates I've found on earliest suburban commuter systems mean multiple direct passenger lines that lent access from the suburbs to the core of the cities.
E.g there was a commuter train in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL, that had 4 rountrips per day into the center of the city circa the 1850s. But it wasn't until decades later that a wide scale commuter system began.
Just a note:
The term "commuter" entered the language because railroads offered discounted, or "commuted," fares to passengers who rode it every weekday. The persons riding for those fares came to be known as "commuters" because of those fares for their daily round trips.
Here's the Wikipedia article on Philadelphia's first commuter railroad line — today's Chestnut Hill East branch. The same railroad then built what's now the Manayunk/Norristown branch:
The initial line to Germantown opened on June 6, 1832. It abandoned the idea of getting to Norristown via this route and instead built a line along the Schuylkill's east bank that opened to Manayunk in 1834 and Norristown the following year. The original route got an extension to Chestnut Hill tacked onto it in December, 1854, about six months after the area the entire line served got absorbed into the city of Philadelphia.
And speaking of Chestnut Hill, you might find this essay about Philadelphia's first planned "railroad suburb" interesting. The link to the celebration mentioned in it no longer works, but I actually attended that event in 2016 and wrote about it:
That predates any suburban commuter line, less suburban commuter train system, that I can find. Which is really what we were after, given the entire point of the back and forth was around commuter/train suburbs across legacy cities. Do you have a link for Boston?
I have read about the NYC system in the past. I know they were printing comutation tickets for periods of time as early as the 1860s from the suburbs on a specific train line. That included ferry transfer. So, I suppose, the dates I've found on earliest suburban commuter systems mean multiple direct passenger lines that lent access from the suburbs to the core of the cities.
E.g there was a commuter train in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL, that had 4 rountrips per day into the center of the city circa the 1850s. But it wasn't until decades later that a wide scale commuter system began.
Most communities that the Fairmount Line would have served would be suburban since the City of Limits of Boston were shifted upwards and it was all SFHs. I think it extended past Readville too, which was a suburb itself at the time.
The term "commuter" entered the language because railroads offered discounted, or "commuted," fares to passengers who rode it every weekday. The persons riding for those fares came to be known as "commuters" because of those fares for their daily round trips.
Most communities that the Fairmount Line would have served would be suburban since the City of Limits of Boston were shifted upwards and it was all SFHs. I think it extended past Readville too, which was a suburb itself at the time.
I think it's fair to say 1. my commuter timeline is wrong, or is based on a set of criteria that isn't easily explained. And 2. there's really no clear cut answer as to when, and how far the lines extended into the near and far suburbs of each of these cities.
But to come full circle - I love the suburbs built along the commuter rails, or legacy railroads.
I think it's fair to say 1. my commuter timeline is wrong, or is based on a set of criteria that isn't easily explained. And 2. there's really no clear cut answer as to when, and how far the lines extended into the near and far suburbs of each of these cities.
But to come full circle - I love the suburbs built along the commuter rails, or legacy railroads.
It seems like one of those things the more research you put into it, the more answers you get lol.
There probably was an earlier Commuter Rail equivalent than Boston-Dedham in 1850something...
It seems like one of those things the more research you put into it, the more answers you get lol.
There probably was an earlier Commuter Rail equivalent than Boston-Dedham in 1850something...
Seems to me like part of the confusion really starts with areas that repurposed working railroad lines, for commuters. NYC did this, and then later, built out an expansive commuter based rail system.
It not as cut and dry as something like first subway.
I think that New York has these rail lines all beat. The Fulton Ferry started regular steamboat commuter service between New York and Brooklyn in 1814. It was soon followed by the Staten Island ferry.
There had been ferries in this area since the 1600s. What was different was that Robert Fulton's steamboats allowed predictable reliable service that made it possible for daily commuters to move to the suburbs.
The growth of Brooklyn because of the new steamboat ferry was rapid. The steamboat ferry started in 1814, by 1817 the area of Brooklyn Town near the ferry was incorporated as a village and by 1834 the entire Town decided to incorporate itself as Brooklyn City. Some of the first suburbs in America appeared within the former town of Brooklyn like Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens.
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