Transportation
MBTA Launches $1.1B South Coast Line Extends Rail Service To and From Boston
Six new stations constructed on the Fall River/New Bedford Line provide passenger rail service for the first time in 65 years.
The MBTA South Coast Rail project modernized more than seven miles of existing track, constructed two new layover facilities and built six commuter rail stations.
Photo Courtesy MBTA Customer and Employee Experience Dept.
Despite repeated delays, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s South Coast Rail is back in service after more than 65 years.
The service, which began March 24, links Boston with Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River—the only three major cities within 50 miles of Boston that previously did not have commuter rail access, the agency says.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) said the project will help relieve traffic jams and provide shorter commutes.
“After years of delays, we took this challenge head on and delivered for the people of the South Coast–and our entire state will benefit,” she said at the grand opening at New Bedford Station in Taunton, Mass. “The start of rail service will give people more options for how to get around, where to live and where to work.”
Originally set for completion by 2023, agency records note, the design-bid-build project was delayed during systems testing. The final station was completed in fall 2024.
Pushing back the project's launch date helped the team commit more “resources and attention" to make the line more “reliable on the first day of service and beyond,” said Authority General Manager Phil Eng in a statement. “These projects are highly specialized and complex, requiring specific expertise, with the system testing phase being one of the most challenging aspects to ensure seamless integration of all components.”
The agency did not comment on whether any penalties were assessed.
The project extended the existing Middleborough Commuter Rail Line by adding more than 17 miles of new track along the New Bedford Main Line and nearly 12 miles of new track along the Fall River Secondary Line.
“The project also modernized more than seven miles of existing Middleborough Secondary Line track from Pilgrim Junction to Cotley Junction, constructed two new layover facilities and built six commuter rail stations,” says Lisa Battiston, an authority spokeswoman.
The agency awarded phase one, the first of two South Coast Rail construction packages to a Skanska-DW White joint venture in May 2020 for $159 million. In August, it awarded SCR Constructors, a joint venture of the Middlesex Corp. and Tutor Perini, a $403.5-million contract to modernize the Middleborough line, and construct the signal and communication system for the project's first phase.
The project's second phase, known as the “full build” phase, is still in development, Battiston says, and will include a more direct, and environmentally friendly trip to Boston, with more stations, including one at Fall River’s Battleship Cove. The authority is "currently focused on delivering and maintaining current levels of South Coast Rail service,” she adds. “We plan to revisit the full build option in the future, which will be informed by phase one operations."
