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When South Coast Rail starts up on March 24, MBTA commuter rail trains will roll into two new stations in New Bedford. This guide will show you how to get to them, no matter how you decide to travel.
New Bedford Station is northeast of downtown, sharing a parking lot with the Seastreak Ferry. Church Street Station is in the North End, southeast of Kings Highway.
On foot
The most pedestrian-friendly route to New Bedford Station is the brand-new pedestrian bridge from Purchase Street. It sits between Pearl and Willis streets, and arches across Route 18 directly to the station. If you’re starting from the eastern side of Route 18, there are sidewalks along MacArthur Drive and Acushnet Avenue leading to the station.
The path to Church Street Station is a little more straightforward. If you can make your way to Church Street, sidewalks will guide you to the station.
On a bicycle
Use caution if you ride a bicycle to New Bedford Station — there are no bicycle lanes near the station on Acushnet Avenue, or on Purchase Street near the pedestrian bridge.
Meanwhile, Church Street does have bicycle lanes on the same side of the street as the station.
There are bicycle racks at both stations. See the MBTA’s website for bike parking policies.
Bicycles are allowed on South Coast Rail trains, but it’s up to the conductor’s discretion. If the train is too crowded, you might be asked to wait for the next train. More information about bringing bicycles on trains is available on the MBTA’s website.
In a car
The trick to reaching New Bedford Station is finding a way to get east of Route 18 onto Acushnet Avenue. Here’s how to get there:
- From downtown, the West End, and the South End: Make your way to MacArthur Drive by heading east on Potomska Street, Walnut Street, or Elm Street. Then turn left to head north on MacArthur Drive — it eventually becomes Acushnet Avenue.
- From the areas immediately north of downtown: Cross Route 18 by heading east on the overpass at Hillman Street and turning left onto Acushnet Avenue.
- From the North End: Make your way to Logan Street by heading south on Purchase Street or North Front Street. Then, head south on Acushnet Avenue.
- From Route 6: At “the Octopus” intersection, turn north onto Pleasant Street, then turn right onto Hillman Street to take the overpass across Route 18. Turn left on Acushnet Avenue.
- From I-195 eastbound: Exit at Penniman Street and turn right onto Purchase Street. Turn left at Logan Street to take the underpass, then turn right onto Acushnet Avenue.
- From I-195 westbound: Take the exit for Downtown New Bedford, onto Route 18. Stay in the right lane and take the first exit for Weld Street. Turn left on Purchase Street. Turn left at Logan Street to take the underpass, then turn right onto Acushnet Avenue.
Church Street Station is directly off Church Street near the intersection with Carlisle Street, and the routes there are much simpler:
- From neighborhoods east of Route 140: Just head west until you reach Church Street.
- From neighborhoods west of Route 140: Use Kings Highway or Nash Road to get to Church Street.
- From Route 140 southbound: Take Exit 5 onto Church Street. Or, take Exit 4 onto Mount Pleasant Street, then turn left onto Kings Highway, then right onto Park Avenue and another right onto Church Street.
Parking will be free at South Coast stations through the end of April as part of a special promotion to encourage people to ride the train. Fares will also be free through the end of March and every weekend through the end of April,
After that, parking will be $4 a day on weekdays and $2 on weekends.
You are allowed to leave your car overnight, MBTA officials said at a recent meeting. Find more policies on the MBTA’s parking page.
You can pay for parking at most MBTA lots using the PayByPhone app, but not at the Whale’s Tooth parking lot at New Bedford Station. It will have its own text-to-pay system called XPressPark. The Whale’s Tooth lot, which used to serve only as Seastreak Ferry parking, is managed by the New Bedford Port Authority instead of the MBTA.
The Port Authority released information on its separate parking system Monday night. The Whale’s Tooth lot’s daily rates will be the same as other MBTA lots, and it will participate in the free parking promotion in April. But anyone parking overnight will have to pay $15 per day.
The lot will have 150 spaces reserved for train passengers and 570 for ferry passengers.
On public transportation
Fare-free SRTA buses have stops close to both train stations.
Route 202 toward Lund’s Corner and Route 204 toward Ashley Boulevard run along Purchase Street — from there, riders can take the new pedestrian bridge across Route 18 to reach New Bedford Station. Route 211 toward Fairhaven runs even closer to the station along Acushnet Avenue.
SRTA buses don’t go directly past Church Street Station, but the Route 221 North End shuttle stops at the Kings Highway Stop & Shop, a 15-minute walk from the station.
The routes run as early as 5:20 a.m. and as late as 9:38 p.m., running about every half hour throughout the day. During early and late hours when the buses aren’t running but MBTA trains are, SRTA plans to add “microtransit” vans that riders can call on an app, like an Uber.
The microtransit service won’t be available in time for the South Coast Rail launch on March 24, because the MBTA moved the date up from the originally forecasted launch in May. But SRTA officials are rushing to launch the vans within the first few weeks of train service.
Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Thursday, March 20, 2025, with new information by the MBTA on parking and fare promotions.
Hi folks! You should have mentioned which stop on route 204 Ashley Blvd stops and you can walk up the street from Ashley Blvd to Church Street or even route 202 Lunds Corner from Achushnet Ave to Church Street.
How far a walk is it from the New Bedford commuter rail station to the Whaling Museum? Thank you.
9 minutes by car, 1 hour + walking, 17 minutes by bicycle.
I think the above answer is incorrect. You can walk from NB train station to Whaling Museum in 15 minutes.
It’s a 15 minute walk. Not an hour.
Question: Can we park overnight at Church Street Station parking lot? We plan on spending the weekend of 3/28-30 in Boston?
Hi Ilene. Yes, you can park overnight. Jean Fox, director of public engagement for the South Coast Rail, confirmed this at a public meeting earlier this week in Acushnet. Yesterday, reporter Grace Ferguson did hear that there is signage at Church Street discouraging overnight parking, but Jean said she doesn’t think this will apply once the trains start running. If anything changes, we will note it in future stories. The New Bedford Port Authority, which owns and manages the parking lot at New Bedford Station, has confirmed that overnight parking is allowed there.
Well, we need to have SRTA to do a shuttle bus for the south coast trained
it’s a smooth train ride to boston and you don’t have to worry about traffic and it’s a good time to read a book.
My GPS can find the stations, but I need the addresses. Can you tell us the street addresses for these two stations?
Hi Andrew. 536 Acushnet Ave. and 387 Church St.
This is very helpful, thanks. I’ve gone to both locations and discovered that EV ChargePoint EV chargers are available at both locations.
Is there transportation such as Lyft or Uber available at the train station for visitors to reach their destination?