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Passengers planning to hop aboard the new MBTA commuter rail expansion connecting New Bedford to Boston will not need to pay during the first five weekends.
The T and Gov. Maura Healey said service and parking for South Coast Rail will be free on weekends between the March 24 start of service and the end of April.
Officials pitched the five weeks of free weekend service as a way to attract riders to the new offering, the first commuter rail service in the region since 1958.
“This will make it easier for South Coast residents and visitors to move around the state, reduce congestion, support local businesses and spur new housing and economic development,” said Gov. Maura Healey.
The free weekend promotion will begin on March 29 and end on April 27. It will include the Patriots’ Day holiday on Monday, April 21 — the day of the Boston Marathon.
“Passengers can ride for free if they are boarding or ending their ride at one of the six South Coast Rail stations,” a press release from the governor and the T says. “Riders should share their origin and destination stations with conductors in order to receive free travel.”
Parking will be free all week at the South Coast Rail stations until April 30.
The South Coast Rail train schedule will be released next week, according to the press release. The MBTA will run 32 train trips between Boston and the South Coast every weekday, with shuttle trains connecting the line’s two branches.
Weekday riders will pay $12.25 for a one-way trip from any South Coast Rail stop to Boston. Starting in May, parking at stations along the extension will cost $4 per day on weekdays and $2 per day on weekends and holidays. Weekend commuter rail passes cost $10.
Years in the making, the $1.1 billion South Coast Rail project’s first phase will bring online about 36 miles of tracks with stations in New Bedford, Fall River, Middleborough, East Taunton, and Freetown — in the process ensuring that all major cities within 50 miles of Boston have commuter rail access to the capital.
Passengers in New Bedford and Fall River will be able to take a 90-minute train ride to Boston’s South Station. The route connects to the existing line that currently ends in Middleborough. When the extension opens, the line will be renamed the New Bedford / Fall River line.
New Bedford has two new stations: New Bedford Station, near the Whale’s Tooth parking lot, and Church Street Station, near Kings Highway.
Subsequent construction, planned for the 2030s, will be aimed at extending the Stoughton Line southward to Easton, Raynham, and Taunton before connecting with the Fall River and New Bedford lines.
New Bedford Light staff contributed to this report.
I am really looking forward to the train coming back to New Bedford, but I am very disappointed that neither of the two stations in our city is enclosed. Each one has a roof, but who will want to stand under it, waiting for a train, on cold windy days,especially with rain or snow?
How much will enclosing cost?
I am so glad that I will finally be able to get to New Bedford from Boston on a regular basis and at an affordable price. I am concerned about the open train station at New Bedford. It will be miserable waiting for a train in the rain, sleet, snow, high cutting winter winds and down pouring rains which bless New Bedford. And walking to New Bedford’s historic district is going to be challenging.
Thanks Governor, but no thanks, I’d much rather drive my Jeep non-stop, to and from Boston with no waiting, no schedules, and as warm, or cool as I want to be year round, and no umbrella needed in the rain.
lmao
never gotten stopped in traffic on the way to Boston ever?
I am very excited. I can hardly believe it is happening in my lifetime. I want to be on the first train.
I’m so excited that the train project is finally done! No hassling with traffic getting into Boston (it’s taken 2 hours to get into the city during rush hour). No exorbitant parking fees or driving around trying to find a free spot. Now I can sit with a cup of coffee and relax. Read a book! When I lived in Boston, many of the train stops were ‘open’, so one just dressed appropriately. In the words of a Scotsman hiker, “there is no such thing as bad weather, just poor clothing.” Already planning my first trip!
Conservatives who complain about tax dollars going to mass transportation might consider joining the group Defunding the Highways.
I, as a recent transplant from New York City, am thrilled about the new service. I hope it becomes so popular that more trains will be added. But for now, I’m content. In CT where I grew up and where I took the train into the City, the platforms were not enclosed.
Before the turn of the century I was a passenger train employee of the former New Haven between GCT and New Haven points. Our commuters were a hardy group. Influential commuters regularly helped trainmen in a pinch. They appreciated our service. Put on a coat. Some trainmen used to provide card playing lapboards and rental umbrellas. They were also their own lost and found providers.