South Coast Rail
Railway construction project in Massachusetts / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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 (service along the Southeastern lines was largely restored in 1997 and 2007).
South Coast Rail | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Status | Under construction |
Locale | Southeastern Massachusetts |
Termini |
|
Stations | 28 (10 new) |
Service | |
Type | Commuter rail |
System | MBTA Commuter Rail |
Services | 2 |
Daily ridership | 4,570 (estimated)[1] |
History | |
Planned opening | 2024 (Phase 1) 2030 (Phase 2) |
Closed | Previous New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad service ended on September 5, 1958 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1ā2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Electrification | Phase 2 only (proposed) |
Passenger service was discontinued in 1958, and the restoration proposal surfaced in the 1980s. A full planning process was held starting in 1990 but was suspended in 2002 due to increasing costs.[2] Planning restarted in 2007 and in March 2017, the project was split into two phases. Phase 1 provides interim service to Fall River and New Bedford while the northern section of the line is built in Phase 2.[3] Several separately-funded projects were constructed between 2013 and 2019 in preparation for the project. Phase 1 construction began in 2019 with a projected cost of $1.047 billion. It is expected to open in 2024. Total cost of the program is estimated at $3.42 billion with completion in 2030.