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MBTA officials say South Coast Rail is going above and beyond its original goals.
On Monday, three days after announcing that the commuter rail extension will open on March 24, officials told several dozen residents at a community meeting in Freetown how the train line will operate.
“Projects like South Coast Rail are truly, truly game-changing for communities and the people that we serve,” said MBTA General Manager Phil Eng. “Just by the turnout tonight, I can see how important these projects are.”
Eng and other officials said they moved the launch date up from May because they completed safety testing ahead of schedule in early January. And they noted that the MBTA will run 32 daily weekday trips between Boston and the South Coast on the new line, more than the 26 they originally committed to, with shuttle trains connecting the line’s New Bedford and Fall River branches.
The meeting at Freetown Elementary School also attracted local state Reps. Mark Sylvia and Carole Fiola, state Sen. Michael Rodrigues, and a representative from U.S. Rep Jake Auchincloss’s office.
Eng acknowledged that South Coast Rail has experienced “hiccups along the way.” The MBTA postponed projected start dates in late 2023 and summer 2024, and the agency has not been specific about the reasons for the past delays. The project hasn’t fallen behind again since Eng replaced the project manager last spring.
With safety testing done, in January the MBTA handed operations off to Keolis, the contractor that runs the agency’s commuter rail network. Training and qualifications for engineers and conductors are now underway.
In the meantime, the MBTA is waiting for the Federal Railroad Administration to approve its plan for final testing and is meeting regularly with the federal officials.
“So far, we’ve gotten very positive feedback on it,” said project manager Karen Antion.
The final testing phase is like a dress rehearsal. Federal regulators will watch as trains run on schedule, as if they were carrying passengers, to make sure that the extension can operate safely and reliably. Keolis is doing “a tremendous amount of work to prepare and make sure we can pass that final test,” Antion said.
Eng said he’s “very optimistic” that the Federal Railroad Administration will approve the project in time for the March 24 launch.
One attendee asked whether President Donald Trump’s actions to shrink the federal government could impact South Coast Rail’s approval, but MBTA officials said they weren’t at all concerned, because the project is so far along in the process.
A Fall River resident asked about safety on the new line, pointing to recent accidents on Boston’s Green Line. Eng assured the resident that the commuter rail has the “premier level” of safety systems. He added that the state is investing more in the overall MBTA system to make it safer.
“We have more work to do, I admit that, but I can tell you that safety is our top priority,” he said.
A few people in the audience asked questions and complained about the noise of the trains. Federal regulations mandate that trains sound their horns at road crossings, and commuter trains will run as early as around 4:30 a.m. and as late as around 1 a.m.
“I don’t sleep anyway,” said one man in attendance.
What else to know about the extension
Passengers in New Bedford and Fall River will be able to take a 90-minute train ride to Boston’s South Station, stopping at a new station in Taunton along the way. 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.
Train schedules will be available in early March, said MBTA COO Ryan Coholan. He said the MBTA plans to run trains about every 70 minutes on weekdays, making 17 one-way trips per day between New Bedford and South Station. The Fall River branch will have 15 trips per day.
Trains will run about every 120 minutes on weekends. There will be late-night service, with the last southbound trains leaving Boston around midnight.
In addition to the one-seat rides from either Fall River or New Bedford to South Station, officials said, shuttle trains will run on the two branches south of East Taunton Station to increase the number of trips available to both cities. Say you’re at South Station and you want to go to New Bedford, but the next train is headed for Fall River. You can board that Fall River train, then get off at East Taunton and take a shuttle train to stations on the New Bedford branch.
“We think it’s going to be a very handy service,” Coholan said.
New Bedford has two new stations: New Bedford Station, near the Whale’s Tooth parking lot, and Church Street Station, near Kings Highway. Daily parking will cost $4 on weekdays and $2 on weekends or holidays.
A pedestrian bridge across Rt. 18 connecting New Bedford Station to Purchase Street is 85% complete and will open by the time the extension opens, the project’s outreach director Jean Fox said at a meeting in Dartmouth on Thursday. An older pedestrian bridge across the highway will be torn down.
A trip from New Bedford Station to South Station will be $12.25 each way, while reduced fares for certain riders will be $6. Unlimited weekend passes are $10.
MBTA officials are warning the community to stay off the train tracks. It’s illegal trespassing, they said, and it’s extremely dangerous. Unlike the slow freight trains that locals are used to seeing, MBTA trains move at up to 79 mph. Dog walkers and ATV riders might not even hear the train until it’s too late to get out of the way, officials said.
Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org
One of the stations should be named after Charlie Baker, the Governor who got this done. Incidentally, he was also the only Governor who never gave a campaign promise to get it done. It’s not the Stoughton route, which would have been superior, but traffic has gotten so bad, it’s seems to be acceptable, especially for those not having to commute on a daily basis.
The complications of having the line go through the Hockomock Swamp added significant costs to the project and years of environmental delays. It’s unlikely to ever be built
Love to know what security measures are in place to keep all of us safe on the train and in the parking lots.
The same thing that keeps you safe on New Bedford streets .
I just think this project is a long time coming and will be very good for the people on the south coast of New Bedford and Fall River
How are plans coming along to connect Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard with the South Coast Rail?
Air link via the rail gun cannon