The South Coast Rail Project has been in the news a lot lately. This project has been in the works for over 20 years, believe it or not they had their groundbreaking ceremony in October of 1998. The current plan is to connect the South Coast to Boston by extending the Stoughton Branch. The right of way continues south of the Stoughton MBTA Station. This line was abandoned many years ago in stages. The railroad track is gone and it’s just a path in the woods now. This option is one of the most direct routes to connect Boston to New Bedford and Fall River. This past June, the MBTA announced that the project would cost $3.42 billion and would not be completed until 2029. (Note: Some of the images below are from the slide show from the September 2016 public meeting)
Getting There From Here
Back in 2008 five alternate routes were looked at including using routes via the Middleboro/Lakeville Commuter Rail Line. This alternative has been the topic of discussion because the current Stoughton route is running into environmental concerns and projected to be costly to complete. This hasn’t stopped the work on the New Bedford and Fall River branches with track, railroad crossings, and bridge upgrades.
The Stoughton Route would provide new rail service to the city of Boston for the following communities: Easton, Raynham, and Taunton.
Middleboro/Lakeville Line Alternative
By using the Middleboro/Lakeville Commuter Rail Line, the South Coast trains would use the western leg of the wye, heading down the Middleboro Secondary to Cotley Junction (Mozzone Blvd, Taunton, MA). At Cotley Junction, trains would need to head south on the New Bedford Branch continuing to Myricks Junction (Near Grove and Myricks Street, Berkley, MA). At Myricks, trains staying on the line would go right into New Bedford and trains taking the southwestern switch would head directly into Fall River. This option wouldn’t be as costly and would eliminate building stations in North Eastern, Eastern, and Raynham. The right-of-way and tracks are currently used by local freight, so track upgrades would be needed for the Middleboro Secondary and Cotley Junction.
Braintree Choke Point
The Middleboro/Lakeville alternative was taken off the table in the past due to only having one track available between South Station and Braintree. Currently, Middleboro/Lakeville, Greenbush, Plymouth, and Kingston trains share this section of right-of-way. There is already too much rail traffic already, never mind adding New Bedford and Fall River trains. This option could work but it would reduce down the amount of originally planned round trips to the South Coast. Right now, there is talk of expanding the Southeast Expressway and building a 4,000 foot tunnel for the commuter rail tracks. The tunnel would allow space for an extra commuter rail track.
September Meetings
Early in the month of September, the Middleboro/Lakeville route became the hot topic of discussion again. I was able to attend the Taunton meeting inside the Silver City Galleria Mall’s Bristol Community College Campus. I was sitting in a packed room of local residents and politicians. Most of the the people in the room were very vocal about how bad the “Middleboro/Lakeville” option for the city of Taunton and all the communities north of the city up to Stoughton. – Click here to see full sideshow – South Coast Rail Update – September 2016
Photos below (top to bottom) MA Senator Marc Pacheco, MA Rep. Shaunna O’Connell and Taunton Mayor Tom Hoye.
The Middleboro/Lakeville option would require moving the already planned Taunton Cotley Station south of the junction. Taunton would have two stations on the Stoughton option. The Dean Street station would connect downtown Taunton to the city of Boston. Residents and politicians both agreed Taunton needs the train to go through it city. It would draw people to the area and create jobs. On the other hand past New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang spoke at the meeting and he was very vocal about the Middleboro/Lakeville option as a good option to get the city of New Bedford and Fall River connected to Boston within two years, not ten years.
Below is a video of Lang talking about the Middleboro/Lakeville Option from 2015:
I think the Middleboro/Lakeville alternative would be one of the best “temporary” options to get this project on track (no pun intended) and to reduce some of the cost. But could it work with the one track between South Station and Braintree for now? I’m not sure. Once the New Bedford and Fall River Trains are through the “Braintree Choke Point”, they could run express down the rest of the Middleboro/Lakeville Line, topping speeds of 70 mph. During the sideshow there was talk about moving the Middleboro/Lakeville station or making reverse move to the station. I didn’t understand the thinking behind doing that. I think the trains should run express up the line, not stopping at stations that are already serviced by Middleboro trains.
Downside to Middleboro Connection
But knowing the MBTA the Middleboro option wouldn’t be a temporary one. This would become a permanent route for the line and the Stoughton options would be put off longer or abandoned. I understand New Bedford and Fall River just wants a connection to the city of Boston somehow some way. But the Stoughton option also allows downtown Taunton, Raynham, and Easton to get this much needed connection to Massachusetts’s capital city.
Tabled Option
One other option that was on the table back in 2008 was a train running down the Northeast Corridor and then using the Middleboro Secondary from Attleboro. I think this option would make the trip longer. This route would run right through Cotley Junction into Myricks Junction. Both the Middleboro/Lakeville and Northeast Corridor alternatives would require upgrading about 9 miles of track on the Middleboro Secondary. I think the Northeast Corridor route would be more costly to upgrade the Middleboro Secondary with all of the railroad crossings going through the city of Taunton. There are fewer crossings heading down the Middleboro/Lakeville route.
As this project starts to heat up again I will be posting more updates here, stay tuned!
