Dozens board 4:38 train from Boston to New Bedford

Dozens of people boarded the 4:38 p.m. out of South Station to New Bedford, which was running right on time.

Talk about a busman’s holiday. 

Michael St. Louis, 22, of Fall River works as a conductor for a rail freight company in Rhode Island, but he took the day off Monday to take in the opening of South Coast Rail. He was up to catch the 5:05 a.m. out of Fall River — but not to ride it, just catch it.

That is, on an image on one or both of two cameras he was carrying at about 2 p.m. at the downtown New Bedford station. He said he had not stepped onto a train all day. Just drove from station to station in his Toyota Tacoma taking video and still pictures for his Facebook page devoted to the South Coast Rail project. He started the projected when construction began some five years ago. 

“I have everything on there, start to finish,” St. Louis said. One more stop to catch on Monday: Middleborough. 

So, what’s with the whole rail thing?

He thought a moment: “I think my parents must have brought me to the train museum in Fall River.”

Doreen Jennings, of Fairhaven, and a friend were hustling to catch the 4:38 p.m. out of South Station back to New Bedford, which was right on time. They had taken the 10:43 a.m. out of New Bedford and first stopped on Beacon Street to see her son the tax lawyer to drop off her materials for her 2024 tax return. Then, more enjoyable stops: Charles Street, and then Cheers. 

“We had a wonderful day,” she said, stepping aboard for the ride home.

Neville Nicholas of Middleborough knows the train route well, as he’s been working for years for a company that was doing signal testing as the South Coast Rail approached opening day. He said he had to be aboard to check it out from the passenger’s view, so he and his wife, Pamela, caught the 2:13 p.m. from the downtown station for the short ride to Middleborough. 

“I just want to see how smooth it is,” he said, adding that they were planning on trips back to New Bedford to check out the restaurants.

“I’m just glad for New Bedford,” Pamela Nicholas said.

The first malfunction occurred for South Coast Rail when a signal near New Bedford’s Church Street station encountered an unspecified issue this morning, causing the 9:33 a.m. train from New Bedford to stop. Every inbound train from then through the 2:13 p.m. train failed to deliver South Coast riders to the capital city on time.

I just left the bustling ribbon cutting ceremony and now I’m waiting for the next train back to New Bedford.

Officials including Gov. Maura Healey and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said this project will benefit the South Coast and the rest of the state — but it also has huge symbolic value. And they said it couldn’t have happened without a tremendous amount of advocacy.

Gov. Maura Healey said this extension is a quality-of-life improvement.

“You get in a train, you grab a ‘Dunks,’ and sit and chill out for a bit.”

Light reporter Anastasia E. Lennon and I met some excited people along the way. Here’s a taste of what some of them had to say.

Virginia Callas was on the train with officials from New Bedford to Taunton. “I’m just so lucky to be sitting in this train,” she said. “If it doesn’t go anywhere, I’m happy.”

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll joins the celebration at New Bedford Station.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said this project is about persistence.

Who uses the train? The students at Bridgewater State University do. Both north and south of the campus, founded as a commuter school but whose dorms now overlook the Bridgewater station.

Setting up for the opening celebration. The wind and rain is picking up, but underneath all the umbrellas people are smiling, hugging, and taking pictures. It seems like every local elected official I’ve ever met is here!

The transition to the New Bedford-bound shuttle train at East Taunton was pretty seamless on the second outbound ride of the day. Most of the passengers who were left on the 8:37 a.m. train after Middleborough got on the shuttle, leaving a quiet train bound for Fall River.

I rode back to NB alongside Pam and Dave Mello, who live near Buttonwood Park. They took the 7:25 up this morning, had coffee, and took the 9:50 back. They said they loved it — at $12.50 it will actually save them on parking and gas. They plan to come back for both fun and medical visits. Like me!

A group of train enthusiasts, rating each station, cheers as they arrive at the new Middleborough station on the outbound train from Boston.

First outbound train from Boston arrives in New Bedford.

There’s pretty good building art in Boston, New Bedford. And some of it is just outside South Station.

There’s much less excitement for the second train from Boston to New Bedford, but still quite a few people getting on at South Station. Georgia Howland, who rode the first train in from New Bedford, is heading back home on the 8:37 a.m. train. Howland said she wasn’t aware she’d have to get the shuttle from East Taunton, and neither was anyone else she spoke to.

Seeing “New Bedford” somewhere it hasn’t been in at least a generation: atop the big board in South Station. All MBTA trains still running on time.

8:50 a.m.

Delays do happen

Reported by Grace Ferguson

The MBTA and its railroad operator are on their best behavior for day one of South Coast Rail. Delays are not uncommon on commuter rail trains.

For those who live by the train, nothing to see here. All heads are firmly pointed downward. For a once-in-while rider like me, it’s all new sights and sounds and a different world.

View of Brockton from my train window. Train is crowded now and train etiquette seems against talking. People buried in their phones or sleeping.

Daria Brashear travels to New Bedford with a customized dress featuring vintage carriages.

Conductor Rick Platt said he thought this day would never come. It only started to feel real to him a few weeks ago when he started to take part in crew training.

MBTA staff are also riding the train and giving out pins to celebrate the T and its new line.

About 30% of commuters had questions about the 6:45 a.m. train from Boston to Fall River and New Bedford, according to Keolis Commuter Services employees. Regulars kept asking where the Middelborough schedule was and print outs of the new line schedule — and Fall River/New Bedford Line pins — were flying off the table before the train departed.

The 6:45 a.m. out of South Station has just departed for New Bedford. On this train are several of the same faces on the 4:27 a.m. out of New Bedford, many with to-go breakfasts from one of the station’s eateries.

How good is this? Frank from New Bedford, an MBTA employee, is traveling the cars, asking passengers how they are doing? The 6:22 shuttle had a few of us nervous so Frank explained how it worked.

From earlier this morning, people cheering when the train departed this morning

On the upper deck of the second car on the 6:22, I’m sharing the car with one passenger. She didn’t want to be identified but she’s taken the train to her Boston job off and on for 10 years. She’s going to see if the Taunton shuttle can get her to work on time. She’s been driving to Middleboro before this.

A handful of Bostonians got to South Station early to see the first train arrive from New Bedford at 6 a.m., including Roshan Karim and Wes Halliwell. Karim and Halliwell said they never go to New Bedford but love trains and are more likely to make the trip now because the South Coast Rail is more convenient than driving.

The third train left right on time at 6:22 a.m. with half a dozen people on it. So far, opening day is running smoothly.

Well, they are not standing in line for the 6:22 shuttle to East Taunton. Not a single person on the platform at 6:07!

Just arrived at South Station.

Diane Whitehouse of downtown New Bedford says she was the first person to miss the train! At 5:55! Here she talks to a Keolis official. And she moved to the city a year ago just for the train!

Spot the differences. In 1949, both the passengers and the train carriage on the ride from New Bedford to Boston looked nothing like this. Travelers step onto the platform, smartphones recording, eager to document the train’s return. Not textile benches but leather ones, upholstered in MBTA purple. There’s no conductor shouting out the stops. Instead, a voice crackles over the speakers: “Braintree next, Braintree next.”

No delays for MBTA riders on a chilly morning: 33º and cloudy when the morning train left the station. Riders can expect rain today and a high of 48º, with the same forecast in Boston.

“All aboard!”

Dozens of people boarded the train at New Bedford Station, and it seemed like every of them was recording on a phone or camera.

The first train pulled out of the station on time at 4:27 a.m. As the train chugged north toward Boston, the sounds of its engine were replaced by morning birdsong.

MBTA-themed outfits, a handmade Bon Voyage sign, selfie sticks and many cups of coffee were seen at the New Bedford stop as more than 100 people excitedly awaited the arrival of the first train out of the city, which departed right on schedule at 4:27 a.m. to a round of applause within the train car.

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