Fall River/New Bedford Line

Fall River/New Bedford Line
An inbound train leaving New Bedford station in 2025
Overview
Owner	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Locale	Southeastern Massachusetts
Termini	South Station Fall River and New Bedford
Stations	15
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	MBTA Commuter Rail
Train number(s)	1905–2095 (weekdays) 6912–7047 (weekends)
Operator(s)	Keolis North America
Daily ridership	5,261 (October 2022)[1]
History
Opened	September 29, 1997
Last extension	March 24, 2025 (to Fall River and New Bedford)
Technical
Line length	Boston–Fall River: 56.6 miles (91.1 km) Boston–New Bedford: 60.0 miles (96.6 km)
Number of tracks	1–2
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Operating speed	79 miles per hour (127 km/h)
Route map Show interactive map Legend to Alewife 0 mi South Station lines via Back Bay Cabot Yard Broadway  Fairmount  Southampton Street Yard Andrew Dorchester Tunnel 2.3 mi 3.7 km JFK/UMass Savin Hill to Ashmont North Quincy Wollaston 7.9 mi 12.7 km Quincy Center Quincy Adams Greenbush 10.9 mi 17.5 km Braintree Caddigan Yard Kingston 15.0 mi 24.1 km Holbrook/​Randolph 18.6 mi 29.9 km Montello 20.0 mi 32.2 km Brockton 21.9 mi 35.2 km Campello 27.7 mi 44.6 km Bridgewater 34.5 mi 55.5 km Middleborough Middleboro Layover 35.6 mi 57.3 km Lakeville CapeFlyer via Cape Main Line South Coast Rail Phase 2 (proposed) 42.8 mi 68.9 km East Taunton New Bedford Branch 57.4 mi 92.4 km Church Street Wamsutta Layover 60.0 mi 96.6 km New Bedford Fall River Branch 51.2 mi 82.4 km Freetown Weaver's Cove Layover 56.6 mi 91.1 km Fall River 57.6 mi 92.7 km Battleship Cove (proposed) This diagram: view talk edit Show route diagram map

The Fall River/New Bedford Line (formerly the Middleborough/Lakeville Line) is a commuter rail line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in southeastern Massachusetts, United States. It runs south from Boston to Taunton, where it splits into branches to Fall River and New Bedford. There are 10 intermediate stations on the combined section and one on each branch. With a distance of 60 miles (97 km) from Boston to New Bedford and 56.6 miles (91.1 km) to Fall River, it is the second-longest line in the system.

Most of the line originated as the Fall River Railroad, which opened in segments between Fall River and South Braintree via Middleborough in 1845 and 1846. At South Braintree, it met the Old Colony Railroad, which provided a connection to Boston. The two railroads merged in 1854 to form the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad. While the Dighton and Somerset Railroad largely replaced the line as a Boston–Fall River route in 1866, it remained busy with commuter and Boston–Cape Cod traffic. Mergers brought it under the Old Colony Railroad in 1872 and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893.

Commuter service peaked in the early 20th century and began to decline in the 1910s. Service on the Fall River–Middleborough segment ended in 1931. After two decades of attempts to end Old Colony Division service, the New Haven terminated it in 1959. Planning for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to restore service on the Middleborough line began in the 1970s. Construction began in 1993 and service on the Middleborough/Lakeville Line began in 1997. Seasonal CapeFlyer excursion service began using the line in 2013. The line was extended and renamed in 2025 as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project. An extension from Middleborough to Buzzards Bay or Bourne is proposed.