Commuter traffic on the B&P – which had numbered just 320 daily passengers from the eight stations north of Readville in 1849 – rapidly expanded thereafter. The railroad cut sharply into the profits of the private turnpike; it became a free public road (Washington Street) south of Dedham in 1843, and north of Dedham in 1857. A third track from Boston to Readville was added in 1873-74. Around 1885, Forest Hills became the outer terminus for some short-turn commuter service. In 1888, the Old Colony Railroad bought the B&P.