New Bedford station

Last updated

New Bedford
Inbound New Bedford line train 2086 departing New Bedford March 2025 1.jpg
An inbound train departing the station in March 2025
General information
Location536 Acushnet Avenue
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°38′36.23″N70°55′31.33″W / 41.6433972°N 70.9253694°W / 41.6433972; -70.9253694
Line(s) New Bedford Main Line
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsAiga bus trans.svg SRTA: 202, 204, 211
Construction
Parking150 spaces
Bicycle facilities8 spaces
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone8 [1]
History
OpenedMarch 24, 2025
ClosedSeptember 5, 1958
RebuiltJune 21, 1886
Previous namesWhale's Tooth (during planning)
Passengers
2030480 weekday boardings (projected) [2] : 66 
Services
Preceding station MBTA.svg MBTA Following station
Church Street
toward South Station
Fall River/​New Bedford Line Terminus
Former services
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Weld Street
toward Boston
Boston–New Bedford Terminus
New Bedford Wharf
Terminus
Mount Pleasant
toward Watuppa
Watuppa Branch Terminus
Location
New Bedford station

New Bedford station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It opened on March 24, 2025, as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project. It is the southern terminal of the New Bedford Branch of the Fall River/New Bedford Line. The station has a single side platform on the west side of the New Bedford Main Line, along with a park and ride lot. An adjacent footbridge crosses over Route 18.

Contents

The New Bedford and Taunton Railroad opened between its namesake cities in July 1840 with an Egyptian Revival station designed by Russell Warren in downtown New Bedford. After several mergers, the line became part of the Old Colony Railroad in 1879 and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893. A new Romanesque station was built in 1886. Passenger service ended in 1958. After over a decade of planning, construction of the modern station began in 2020.

Station design

The footbridge over Route 18 New Bedford station footbridge over Route 18 1.jpg
The footbridge over Route 18

The station is located about 0.7 miles (1.1 km) north of downtown New Bedford on the east side of the Route 18 expressway and Acushnet Avenue. It has an 800-foot (240 m)-long accessible high-level side platform on the east side of the New Bedford Subdivision, which runs north–south through the station. The line has one track plus a freight siding at the station location. A 167-foot (51 m)-long canopy covers part of the platform to provide shelter for passengers. The parking lot between the platform and Acushnet Avenue has 352 parking spaces, 22 bicycle spaces, and a kiss-and-ride area. [3] A footbridge over Route 18 and Acushnet Avenue connects the northwest corner of the parking lot to Purchase Street. The 250-foot (76 m)-long bridge has a tied arch main span and two elevators at the east end. [4] [5] The Wamsutta Layover is located just north of the station. [3] At 60 miles (97 km) from Boston, New Bedford is the second-most-distant station in the system after Wickford Junction. [2] : 54 

History

Former service

Early-20th-century postcard of the station New Bedford station postcard (2).jpg
Early-20th-century postcard of the station

The New Bedford and Taunton Railroad opened between its namesake cities in July 1840. [6] : 398  An Egyptian Revival station designed by Russell Warren was located at Pearl Street in downtown New Bedford. [7] 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. [6] : 398  The Fall River Railroad (Watuppa Branch) opened from Fall River to Mount Pleasant Junction north of downtown Fall River in December 1875. [6] : 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. [8] : 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. [7]

Grade crossings in New Bedford were eliminated around 1908. [9] Watuppa Branch service was out-competed by electric streetcars in the 1890s; the final passenger service (a single daily mixed train) ended in 1918. [6] : 399  Passenger service to New Bedford Wharf slowly declined, and was discontinued entirely by the mid-1950s. [10] All passenger service between New Bedford and Boston ended on September 5, 1958. [8] : 36 

South Coast Rail

The footbridge under construction in 2023 New Bedford station footbridge construction (1), December 2023.JPG
The footbridge under construction in 2023

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). [11] 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. [12] A 2009 corridor plan called for mixed-use transit-oriented development along Route 18 around the new station. [13]

On June 11, 2010, the state took ownership of the New Bedford Subdivision and several other CSX lines as part of a sale agreement. [14] 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. [15]

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. [16] In 2019, the planned station name was changed from Whale's Tooth to New Bedford for clarity. [17] 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. [18]

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. [19] The line was expected to open in late 2023. [20] The contract was 18% complete by November 2021, with New Bedford station construction just beginning, and 53% complete by August 2022. [21] [22] [23] A $21.3 million contract for the new footbridge was awarded in December 2022. Its design had been changed to have a single tied arch span. [4]

Bridge construction began in May 2023. [24] Opening of South Coast Rail 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. [25] [26] Installation of the span of the new footbridge began in February 2024, with completion of the bridge expected by the end of 2024. [27] [28] In June 2024, the opening of the project was delayed to May 2025. New Bedford station was 97% complete by that time and expected to be complete in July. [1]

In November 2024, the state legislature passed a bill naming the bridge as the "Andre Lopes Korean War Veteran Overpass". Lopes died in 1956 from injuries sustained during the war. [29] [30] The elevator shaft of the bridge will have artwork entitled "Equinox" by Tracy Silva Barbosa. [29] By December 2024, the bridge was 75% complete. [31] The footbridge was 85% complete by February 2025 and expected to open along with the station. The old footbridge was to be demolished in the spring. [32] Rail service began on March 24, 2025. [33] [34]

References

  1. 1 2 Medeiros, Dan (June 13, 2024). "'MBTA owes this region an apology': South Coast Rail start is delayed another year". The Herald News. Archived from the original on June 14, 2024.
  2. 1 2 VHB/HNTB (January 31, 2018). "Chapter 2 – Alternatives Analysis". South Coast Rail Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report. Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
  3. 1 2 "South Coast Rail - Phase 1: New Bedford Stations: Virtual Listening Session" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. September 22, 2020. pp. 15–22.
  4. 1 2 Tabakin, Jennifer (December 15, 2022). "K78CN06 – SCR Phase 1: Rt 18 Pedestrian Bridge, New Bedford" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  5. ↑ "Phase 1 New Bedford Public Information Meeting: Summary". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 14, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. ISBN   9780942147124.
  7. 1 2 Barnes, Bruce (February 2006). "Railroad Depots of New Bedford's Past" (PDF). New Bedford Preservation Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 1, 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  8. 1 2 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. ISBN   9780685412947.
  9. ↑ "Annual Report of N.Y., N.H. & H." Hartford Courant. October 3, 1907. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Table 19: Boston-New Bedford-Fall River". THE SCENIC SHORELINE ROUTE SERVING NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. April 24, 1955. p. 31 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  11. ↑ "South Coast Rail Fact Sheet: October 2008" (PDF). South Coast Rail. October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 12, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Whale's Tooth Station Plan View" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. February 3, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2011.
  13. ↑ South Coast Rail Economic Development and Land Use Corridor Plan (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. June 2009. p. 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2013.
  14. ↑ "The Massachusetts Rail Program" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 2010. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Figure 3.2-31 Whale's Tooth Station Conceptual Station Design" (PDF). Volume II: FEIS/FEIR Figures Final Environmental Impact Statement/Final Environmental Impact Report on the South Coast Rail Project proposed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District. August 2013.
  16. ↑ Dungca, Nicole (March 22, 2017). "State changes gears on Middleborough commuter rail plan". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017.
  17. ↑ Barnes, Jennette (September 6, 2019). "Proposed King's Highway train station moved to Church Street". South Coast Today. Archived from the original on September 10, 2019.
  18. ↑ "South Coast Rail - Phase 1: New Bedford Public Meeting". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 17, 2019. pp. 14–16.
  19. ↑ "FMCB Approves $403.5 Million Contract for South Coast Rail Main Line Construction" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 24, 2020.
  20. ↑ Tabakin, Jennifer (May 11, 2020). "South Coast Rail Phase 1 Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  21. ↑ "Fall 2021 Fact Sheet" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 2021. p. 1.
  22. ↑ "South Coast Rail Fall Update" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 19, 2021.
  23. ↑ "South Coast Rail Fall River Construction Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 13, 2022.
  24. ↑ Gallerani, Kathryn (June 13, 2023). "South Coast Rail project could affect your commute in New Bedford this summer. Here's how". South Coast Today. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023.
  25. ↑ Medeiros, Dan (September 29, 2023). "South Coast Rail passenger service is being delayed. Here's why, explained in 60 seconds". The Herald News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023.
  26. ↑ "South Coast Rail Shows Visible Progress" (PDF). South Coast Rail Fall 2023 Fact Sheet. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Fall 2023. p. 1.
  27. ↑ Mulligan, Frank (February 23, 2024). "Pedestrian bridge to New Bedford rail station ready by year's end. Here's what to know". The Standard-Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2024.
  28. ↑ Torres-Perez, Alex (February 20, 2024). "New Bedford construction detours signify South Coast Rail progress". WPRI. Archived from the original on February 22, 2024.
  29. 1 2 Weisberg, Tim (October 31, 2024). "New Bedford's New Pedestrian Bridge Will Be Named for Korean War Hero". WBSM. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Bill H.4954". Massachusetts General Court.
  31. ↑ Ferreira, Matthew (December 3, 2024). "When can we expect the New Bedford pedestrian bridge across Rte. 18? Here's what we know". The Standard-Times. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024.
  32. ↑ "South Coast Rail Public Meeting with MBTA General Manager Phil Eng" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 10, 2025. p. 9.
  33. ↑ Mulligan, Frank (February 7, 2025). "Trains are rolling into New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton. South Coast Rail start date set". The Standard-Times. Archived from the original on February 8, 2025.
  34. ↑ "MBTA Announces South Coast Rail Service Begins March 24, 2025" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 7, 2025.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to New Bedford station at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.