At long last, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has an opening date for South Coast Rail.
The MBTA announced that trains will begin carrying passengers from Fall River and New Bedford to Boston starting Monday, March 24, pending final approval from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The long-awaited project will revive train service between those cities for the first time since 1958 when a private company that operated the line closed it because of declining ridership.
State transportation officials have been working to restore the service as a new branch of the MBTA’s Commuter Rail network since the late 1980s. Those leaders were initially optimistic the new line would open during the 1990s.
But the project hit numerous delays and legal challenges. Under the original plan, the train would have followed an old right of way through the Hockomock swamp and connected to the Commuter Rail’s Stoughton Line. State officials abandoned that route after a conservation group threatened to sue under the Clean Water Act.
Former Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration revived the effort to complete South Coast Rail by choosing a less direct route that links up to the Commuter Rail’s Middleboro/Lakeville Line. The new route added at least 15 minutes to the estimated trip each way, bringing the total for a one-way ride from New Bedford to Boston to about 90 minutes.
As South Coast Rail neared completion, the project hit additional delays, resulting in several missed deadlines.
MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng, who took over the agency in 2023, attributed those delays to a previous lack of understanding among MBTA officials about how long safety testing takes on a new rail line.
The latest project completion deadline, March 24, marks the first time that MBTA officials have publicly committed to a specific date.
“Six stations are complete, over 800 safety functions have been tested on the trains, and now operators are beginning to get ready to learn the routes,” said South Coast Rail project manager Karen Antion. “It hasn’t been an easy feat, but I’m proud of how much we have accomplished.”
When trains begin running, the Middleboro/Lakeville Line of the Commuter Rail will be renamed the Fall River/New Bedford Line.
On weekdays, the train fare between the South Coast and Boston will cost $12.25 each way. On Saturdays and Sundays, passengers can pay $10 for a pass that covers their fare for unlimited rides throughout the weekend.
A press release states that the MBTA anticipates trains to run every 70 minutes on weekdays and every two hours on the weekends.
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio.
