Map of the South Shore system
The South Shore Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1846 to provide rail service between Quincy and Duxbury, Massachusetts through the towns of Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Marshfield.
The South Shore Railroad was a railroad in Massachusetts. It was incorporated in 1846 to provide rail service between Quincy and Duxbury, Massachusetts through the towns of Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Marshfield.
The 11.5 mile line opened for service from Braintree to Cohasset, on January 1, 1849. However, the 17.5 mile portion between Cohasset and Duxbury, Massachusetts, was not built until 1871 when a new company, the Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad completed the line to South Duxbury and Kingston where it connected to the old 1844 Old Colony Railroad line to Plymouth. [1] One of the early promoters and presidents of the South Shore Railroad was Caleb Stetson, a successful shoe manufacturer from Braintree. [2]
The contract to use Old Colony equipment expired in 1854, leaving the SSR to run its own trains. [3] The 1849 section of the South Shore Railroad was acquired by the Old Colony Railroad in 1877, while the section between Cohasset and Duxbury became part of the Old Colony network in 1904.
Starting in March 1893, the entire Old Colony Railroad network was operated under lease agreement by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The SSR was converted from steam to electric with overhead wires. [3] The increasing usage of the automobile caused the New Haven Railroad to declare bankruptcy in 1937, followed by the Old Colony Railroad, with the New Haven emerging in 1947. [3] The company declared it would end passenger service on the South Shore line in 1958, but the Commonwealth of Massachusetts funded continued operations until June 1959, when the Southeast Expressway opened. [3] The trackage was acquired by Penn Central in 1968, then Conrail in April 1976. [3] The Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction purchased the line in 1982, and contracted freight operations to the Bay Colony Railroad. [3] Freight service, which historically had been mostly for national defense customers, continued until the last customer (a General Services Administration depot) switched to trucks in 1983. [3]
On October 31, 2007, commuter rail passenger service on the line was restored from Boston to Greenbush with the opening of the MBTA Greenbush Line. [4]
The Nantasket Beach Railroad opened in 1880 as a branch off the South Shore but closed in 1886. It was reopened in 1886 and electrified, running until 1932. Winter service was replaced by buses beginning in 1926. [5] Portions of the former railroad bed were converted to paved roads, including Fitzpatrick Way, in 1937. [6] [7]
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 135 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.
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.
Quincy Adams station is a rapid transit station in Quincy, Massachusetts. It serves the Braintree Branch of the MBTA's Red Line. Located in southern Quincy on Burgin Parkway near the Braintree Split, the station features a large park and ride garage, with space for 2,538 automobiles, built over the station tracks and platforms. It is fully accessible.
Quincy Center station is an intermodal transit station in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is a transfer station between the MBTA Red Line subway, MBTA Commuter Rail's Old Colony Lines and Greenbush Line, and a number of MBTA bus routes. It is located between Hancock Street and Burgin Parkway in the Quincy Center district. Opened in 1971, the station was covered by a large parking garage which was closed in 2012 due to structural problems and removed several years later. The station is accessible on all modes.
Wollaston station is a rapid transit station in Quincy, Massachusetts. Located in the Wollaston neighborhood, it serves the MBTA's Red Line. It was opened in September 1971 as the second of three stations in the original South Shore Extension, replacing a mainline rail station which had been located there from 1845 to 1959. Wollaston station was closed from January 8, 2018, to August 16, 2019, for renovations to the station, including flood mitigation and accessibility improvements.
The Greenbush Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system which serves the South Shore region of Massachusetts. The 27.6-mile (44.4 km) line runs from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through the cities and towns of Quincy, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate to the Greenbush neighborhood in southern Scituate. There are ten stations along the line. From South Station, to Quincy Center, service operates in conjunction with the Old Colony Lines commuter rail service via the Old Colony Main Line. From Weymouth Landing/East Braintree to Greenbush, trains utilize the Greenbush Branch, the former South Shore Railroad line that was later incorporated into the Old Colony Railroad.
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 Greenbush Line, which was also part of the Old Colony Division, was reactivated in 2007 as a separate project.
Weymouth Landing/East Braintree station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station on the border of Braintree and Weymouth, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It is located in Weymouth Landing, and consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
East Weymouth station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Weymouth, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line, and is located in the East Weymouth village. It consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
West Hingham station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Hingham, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
Nantasket Junction station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Hingham, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It is located off Chief Justice Cushing Highway east of downtown Hingham. It consists of a single side platform serving the line's one track. The station is fully accessible.
North Scituate station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Scituate, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. The station, located at 777 Country Way in North Scituate village, is the primary station for Scituate, while nearby Greenbush station primarily serves as a park-and-ride for adjacent communities. Like the other stations on the Greenbush Line, North Scituate consists of a single full-length high-level platform which provides accessible boarding to the line's single track.
Cohasset station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Cohasset, Massachusetts. It serves the Greenbush Line. It is located off Chief Justice Cushing Highway west of downtown Cohasset. The station was opened with the line on October 31, 2007, providing the first rail service to Cohasset since 1959. Cohasset station is fully accessible.
Greenbush station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Scituate, Massachusetts. Located in the Greenbush section of Scituate, it is the terminus of the Greenbush Line.
Whitman station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Whitman, Massachusetts. It serves the Plymouth/Kingston Line. It is located off South Avenue. Parking is available on the south side of South Avenue on both sides of the tracks. The station opened along with the rest of the Old Colony Lines on September 26, 1997.
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 May 2025 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.
The 88 stations case was a 1935–40 controversy and court case involving the Old Colony Division of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The New Haven entered bankruptcy in 1935; the next year, it ended the 1893 lease of the unprofitable Old Colony Division, but continued operating those lines by court order. The Old Colony and New Haven closed 88 stations in Massachusetts on July 18, 1938, ending passenger service altogether on some lines. In May 1939, the Old Colony filed to abandon all freight and passenger service on its lines. In November 1939, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Palmer v. Massachusetts that a district court did not have authority to order the discontinuance of intrastate passenger service. Thirty-two of the stations were reopened in 1940, with 40 percent of service cut in lieu of total abandonment.
