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Retired New Bedford firefighter David Mello and his wife Pam stared up at what’s called the Big Board in South Station midway through Monday morning.
With 10 minutes to go before the 1911 train was scheduled to leave for Fall River, they were watching like old pros for the electronic schedule to post which track the train would be leaving on.
The Mellos are used to driving to Boston to walk around or just see friends. So they had planned to join the group of New Bedforders taking the train to Boston for the first time in almost 68 years. They and some friends were going to make a fun day of it, having lunch and walking around Boston. The friends ended up canceling because of the poor weather forecast. But just before bed Sunday night, the Mellos decided the two of them would take the train themselves. “I said, ‘You know what? Let’s take a ride anyway,’” Pam said.
So the Mellos got on the train in New Bedford in the early morning, were in Boston long enough for coffee and a muffin, and then got on the 9:50 a.m. train to return to the Whaling City, with a transfer at East Taunton to a shuttle train.
“Finally!” said Pam of passenger rail’s return to New Bedford. “It’s for us just so exciting.”
“We love it!” said David.
The couple, who live near Buttonwood Park, said the new train is a good deal for them when they consider that senior citizens like themselves can travel both ways for just $12, saving on both parking and gas in Boston, and the frustration of driving on the crowded Southeast Expressway. (The train is free through March and on weekends through April.) When they have their appointments at Mass General Hospital, they just go down to the Red Line subway and are there in 10 minutes, Pam said. “You’re hardly even outside.”
“I don’t even want to drive (Route) 24,” she said. “Those days are gone. I’m getting too old.”
The Mellos had friends in from Florida last week who were staying in Revere on the North Shore. And instead of them driving to New Bedford, they offered to take the train to Boston to see them.
“I don’t want him trying to drive down to New Bedford because it takes too long and it’s a pain in the neck,” Pam said.
Of course, South Coast Rail is not all a magic carpet ride.
Even the Mellos’ ride back to New Bedford was delayed, as many of the midday trains were. The hold-ups were caused by “increased train traffic across the MBTA system,” and a press manager for Keolis (the company operating the MBTA trains) declined to answer specific questions about what caused the problems.
That’s a bad omen for the future. As more and more people ride the trains from the South Coast, there are sure to be issues connected to a known shortage of state-of-the-art track and train storage space connected to the new lines.
The MBTA’s history of neglecting track maintenance, state legislators burdening the agency with debt, and an actual infrastructure shortage of tracks are all well documented. And they have all played a role in train delays and will continue to play a role in them as the agency does the work to change its practices, executive director Philip Eng has said.
The very real problems facing the agency that runs the state’s commuter rail and subway lines were nowhere in evidence Monday as politicians, local and statewide, backslapped each other at the Taunton dedication.
Hundreds of South Coast officials had gathered to take a bow as South Coast Rail finally opened after three decades of stops and starts. Maybe that’s understandable. A lot of folks, including myself and couples like the Mellos, are ecstatic to see our state government accomplish a big project like this — even if it has been completed in a way that will have problems from the start. At least it’s something to celebrate in Southeastern Massachusetts, after what’s been perceived for generations as neglect by the state government.
At the dedication ceremony, Gov. Maura Healey was quick to take a bow for hiring an efficiency expert who solved the track testing problems that had been repeatedly delaying the opening of South Coast Rail. Good for her, but the route’s challenges go far beyond the track testing.
Former Gov. Charlie Baker, who came up with the alternative rail route through Middleborough, deserves much of the credit for this victory, according to former House Transportation Chair Bill Straus of Mattapoisett. But even the Middleborough route will have to be temporary. Environmentally, the better solution is electrified trains running on the shorter, and more expensive, Stoughton route.
Everyone felt ecstatic Monday that somehow, some way, South Coast Rail finally got done. The very real problems for how it will function would be left to another day.
But even David Mello, when we were finished celebrating how great it would be to finally travel affordably to Boston by rail, returned to our skeptical mindset that Massachusetts state government can get big things done for the South Coast.
“So now that we’ve accomplished the train, will we see the new Fairhaven Bridge?” he asked.
David, Pam and I all laughed, all of us being seniors and knowing that’s a very big project.
“I don’t know!” I laughed.
“I told David the Pilgrims were talking about that,” said Pam. “We’re never going to see that!”
Contact Jack Spillane at jspillane@newbedfordlight.org
A great train human interest story, thank you.
I enjoyed reading this article–thank you! I had just one disappointment, though: the link for “shortage of tracks” led to the Boston Globe, requiring a subscription.
Thanks for this good news! I hope there will be further coverage discussing its history (how it got done finally), more human interest stories about who rides it and why, ridership numbers, the expertise the stations, how it’s integrated into its communities, how it’s making new connections among South Coast communities, and more.
Why has no one mentioned that the train that the Lt. Governor, other officials, and media (myself included) was on and headed to Taunton on Monday was delayed by over 15 minutes on arrival? It stopped midway from Church Street to Taunton and sat on the tracks for about 10-15 minutes before moving again with no explanation. Even on day 1 we had the Full MBTA experience (delays and all). 🙂 I am glad it’s here (finally!) but no way would I rely on it to be on time on a regular basis to get to work. Great article Jack!