New Bedford | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | 536 Acushnet Avenue New Bedford, Massachusetts | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 41°38′36.23″N70°55′31.33″W / 41.6433972°N 70.9253694°W | ||||||||||
Line(s) | New Bedford Subdivision | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
Connections | SRTA: 1, 2 [1] | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | 8 spaces | ||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opening | mid-2024 (planned) | ||||||||||
Closed | September 5, 1958 | ||||||||||
Rebuilt | June 21, 1886 | ||||||||||
Planned services | |||||||||||
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New Bedford station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The station is being constructed as part of the South Coast Rail project and is expected to open in mid-2024.
The New Bedford and Taunton Railroad opened between its namesake cities in July 1840. [2] : 398 An Egyptian Revival station designed by Russell Warren was located at Pearl Street in downtown New Bedford. [3] A short extension to New Bedford Wharf to serve New York steamships opened in July 1873; the Pearl Street station remained the main station for the city. [2] : 398 The Fall River Railroad (Watuppa Branch) opened from Fall River to Mount Pleasant Junction north of downtown Fall River in December 1875. [2] : 399
Service was consolidated under the New Bedford Railroad (1874), Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad (1876), Old Colony Railroad (1879), and finally the New Haven Railroad (1893). Schedules allowing commuting from New Bedford to Boston were not introduced until 1885. [4] : 31 The Old Colony opened a new station, slightly to the east of the Pearl Street station, on June 21, 1886. Designed by Henry Paston Clark, it was a Romanesque stone structure. [3]
Grade crossings in New Bedford were eliminated around 1908. [5] Watuppa Branch service was out-competed by electric streetcars in the 1890s; the final passenger service (a single daily mixed train) ended in 1918. [2] : 399 Passenger service to New Bedford Wharf slowly declined, and was discontinued entirely by the mid-1950s. [6] All passenger service between New Bedford and Boston ended on September 5, 1958. [4] : 36
In September 2008, MassDOT released 18 potential station sites for the South Coast Rail project, including two in downtown New Bedford: Whale's Tooth (the name of a ferry parking lot) at the former station location, and State Pier at State Pier Maritime Terminal (the former steamship wharf). [7] Only the Whale's Tooth site was selected for inclusion; a 2010 conceptual design called for a single side platform serving a single track, with a station building and bus plaza at the north end of the parking lot. The existing footbridge over Route 18 at Pearl Street would be rebuilt. [8] A 2009 corridor plan called for mixed-use transit-oriented development along Route 18 around the new station. [9]
On June 11, 2010, the state took ownership of the New Bedford Subdivision and several other CSX lines as part of a sale agreement. [10] Plans released as part of the Final Environmental Impact Report in 2013 placed the Wamsutta layover yard just north of the station, with a second track serving as yard access and a freight passing track. The station building and bus plaza were removed from the design; the existing footbridge would be reused. [11]
In 2017, the project was re-evaluated due to cost issues. A new proposal released in March 2017 called for early service via Middleborough by 2024, followed by full service via Stoughton by 2029. [12] In 2019, the planned station name was changed from Whale's Tooth to New Bedford for clarity. [13] By then, a new footbridge at Willis Street (a block south of the existing bridge) was added to the design. It was to have two truss spans, with a ramp from the bridge to the station. [14]
The MBTA awarded a $403.5 million contract for the Middleborough Secondary and New Bedford Secondary portions of the project, including New Bedford station, on August 24, 2020; construction was expected to begin later in 2020 and take 37 months. [15] The line was expected to open in late 2023. [16] The contract was 18% complete by November 2021, with New Bedford station construction just beginning, and 53% complete by August 2022. [17] [18] [19] A $21.3 million contract for the new footbridge was awarded in December 2022. It will have a tied arch span and two elevators at the east end. [20] Bridge construction began in May 2023. [21] Opening was delayed to mid-2024 in September 2023; at that point, the station was 94% complete and expected to be finished by the end of the year. [22] [23]
JFK/UMass station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transfer station, located adjacent to the Columbia Point area of Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by the rapid transit Red Line; the Greenbush Line, Kingston/Plymouth Line, and Middleborough/Lakeville Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, and three MBTA bus routes. The station is named for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the University of Massachusetts Boston, both located nearby on Columbia Point.
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over 394 mi (634 km) of track to 134 stations. It is operated under contract by Keolis, which took over operations on July 1, 2014, from the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company (MBCR).
The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod. For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line with express train service from Boston to its wharf in Fall River where passengers boarded luxury liners to New York City. The company also briefly operated a railroad line on Martha's Vineyard, as well as the freight-only Union Freight Railroad in Boston. The OC was named after the "Old Colony", the nickname for the Plymouth Colony.
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The Watuppa Branch is a roughly six-mile freight railroad line in southeastern Massachusetts. The track originates at Mount Pleasant Junction, where it diverges from the New Bedford Secondary, and runs through Dartmouth before terminating in north Westport. The line is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and is operated by Bay Colony Railroad, which interchanges with Massachusetts Coastal Railroad at the junction in New Bedford. The abandoned western portion of the right-of-way is used by the Quequechan River Rail Trail.
Braintree station is an intermodal transit station in Braintree, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA's Red Line and the MBTA Commuter Rail Old Colony Lines as well as MBTA buses.
The Bay Colony Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Massachusetts.
The Old Colony Lines are a pair of branches of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, connecting downtown Boston, Massachusetts with the South Shore and cranberry-farming country to the south and southeast. The two branches operate concurrently for 10 miles (16 km) via the Old Colony Mainline from South Station to Braintree station. The Middleborough/Lakeville Line then winds south through Holbrook, Brockton, Bridgewater, Middleborough, and Lakeville via the Middleborough Main Line and Cape Main Line. The Kingston Line heads southeast to serve Weymouth, Abington, Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, and Kingston by way of the Plymouth branch. Limited service to Plymouth was provided prior to April 2021 but was cut due to low ridership and budget constraints.
The Middleboro Secondary is a railroad line owned by MassDOT in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The line runs from Attleboro to Middleborough via Taunton.
Middleborough/Lakeville station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Lakeville, Massachusetts, just south of the Middleborough border. It is the southern terminus of the Middleborough/Lakeville Line; it is also an intermediate stop for seasonal CapeFlyer service to Cape Cod. Middleborough/Lakeville has a single full-length high-level side platform serving the line's single track.
The Massachusetts Coastal Railroad is a Class III railroad serving south-eastern Massachusetts. The railroad maintains track from Hyannis to Framingham, operating over 97 miles of track between Hyannis and Fall River/New Bedford. The railroad is the successor operator of portions of the Bay Colony Railroad.
South Coast Rail is a project to build a new southern line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system along several abandoned and freight-only rail lines. The line has been planned to restore passenger rail service between Boston and the cities of Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford, via the towns of Berkley, and Freetown, on the south coast of Massachusetts. It would restore passenger service to some of the southern lines of the former Old Colony Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
East Taunton station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in East Taunton, Massachusetts adjacent to the interchange between the Route 24 expressway and County Street. It is planned to open in mid-2024 as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project.
Freetown station is a future MBTA Commuter Rail station located in the Assonet village of Freetown, Massachusetts. It is planned to open in mid-2024 as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project. The station will have a single side platform on the west side of the Fall River Secondary, along with a park and ride lot.
Fall River station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in Fall River, Massachusetts. The station is being constructed as part of the South Coast Rail project and is expected to open in mid-2024.
Battleship Cove is a proposed MBTA Commuter Rail station in Fall River, Massachusetts. It is planned to be the southern terminus of the Fall River branch of the South Coast Rail project, and will open in 2030 as part of the project's Phase II. The station will have no parking—it is intended for tourists visiting Battleship Cove and the Fall River waterfront, with Fall River station to the north serving commuters—and will be open seasonally. Previous passenger service to Fall River included stations at Fall River Wharf (1847–1937) and Ferry Street (1864–1958). The Wharf station was the terminus of the Fall River Line steamship service.
Church Street station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station located in northern New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States. It is planned to open in mid-2024 as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project. The station will have a single side platform on the east side of the New Bedford Subdivision, along with a park and ride lot.
The Fall River Railroad was a railroad that ran between Fall River and Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. It was formed in 1845 as a merger between three railroads, which opened in phases in 1845 and 1846. The railroad merged into the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad in 1854.
The Dighton and Somerset Railroad, currently referred to as the Dean Street Industrial Track, is a railroad that ran between Fall River and Braintree, Massachusetts. It opened in 1866; from the 1890s to the 1930s and again in the late 1950s, it was the primary rail route from Boston to the South Coast. Passenger service ended in stages with the final regular service in 1958, though freight service on two short segments continues into the 21st century. MBTA Commuter Rail service is proposed to be extended onto the northern part of the line around 2030 as part of the South Coast Rail project.
Middleborough station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in Middleborough, Massachusetts. It is expected to open in mid-2024 as part of the South Coast Rail project, replacing Middleborough/Lakeville station for regular service. The station will have a single side platform located inside the wye between the Middleborough Main Line and the Middleboro Secondary.
Media related to New Bedford station at Wikimedia Commons