The South Coast Rail will soon pull into the station
MIDDLEBORO — The ongoing South Coast Rail project, which was designed to reconnect the South Coast with Boston for the first time since the late 1950s, is on track to open March 24.
“We are absolutely at the finish line,” Jean Fox, the South Coast Rail Director of Public Engagement, said.
The project, which began six years ago, includes a total of six new stations with a new Middleboro station, two new stations in New Bedford near Church Street and the Seastreak Ferry Terminal, and new stations in Fall River, Freetown and East Taunton.
The new Middleboro station, which will open near West Clark Street and replace the Middleboro/Lakeville station on Commercial Drive, was originally slated to open at the end of 2023 but was delayed to the spring of 2025 due to delays in the South Coast Rail project.
While the Middleboro/Lakeville station will no longer be a part of the South Coast Rail, it will still be open for CapeFlyer with potential for future Cape service, according to Fox.
“We’re not giving up that station,” she said.
The 37 additional miles of track will join the tracks at the new Middleboro Station with the trip from the Fall River/New Bedford line to South Station taking approximately 90 minutes.
“We’re basically taking what is already existing on the Middleboro/Lakeville line and bringing it all the way to Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford,” Fox said.
In addition to the new stations, there will also be two new layover facilities.
The layover facilities, Fox said, are not maintenance facilities but instead locations where the trains can park at night or where minor issues can be taken care of.
“They’re really just a place to park and to get ready to go up in the morning,” she said.
The new stations are “fully accessible” with ramps and eight-foot tall platforms, measuring from groundlevel, which will allow anyone to board any train car, whether they have a stroller or are in a wheelchair, Fox said. There will also be electric vehicle charging stations, canopies and emergency phones.
“They’re all pretty standard, but they’re all the latest in terms of design,” she said.
The platforms, for example, are not only concrete but also a vinyl mix, which Fox said may help keep the platforms less slippery when, for example, salt is put down.
A pedestrian bridge was also built in New Bedford to connect the city with the station near the Seastreak Ferry Terminal and eliminate the possibility of pedestrians attempting to cross Route 18 and Achushnet Avenue by foot.
There will be 32-weekday trips and 26-weekend trips, as well as late night services with the last train leaving out of South Station right before midnight.
“For everybody who said to me, ‘What if I go to a baseball game?’, you can get home,” Fox said.
Weekday direct service will run approximately every 70 minutes and on weekends approximately every 120 minutes.
Shuttles will operate between each endpoint and East Taunton station, which will allow for more frequent service, Fox said.
There will also be 16 new train cars, which will be be-level and include bathrooms, some tables and free wifi. With the ability to transport 750 passengers to and from South Station, each bi-level train car can hold 150 passengers.
The new lines will be in fare Zone 8 and cost $12.25 each way or $6 each way for reduced fares. On weekends and federal holidays, the fare will be $10 each way. The train will also be free for children under 11, people who are legally blind, police, firefighters and military personnel. On weekdays it will cost $4 to park at a station and $2 on weekends and holidays.
Riders will be able to purchase tickets on either the MyTicket MBTA app or while on the train. There won’t be ticket kiosks at the stations and Charlie Cards, which are currently used on buses and the subway, cannot be used on the commuter rail.