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 from Boston to New Bedford and 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 or is proposed.
Operation
The northern portion of the line follows the Middleborough Main Line, which runs approximately north–south from Boston to Middleborough. The northernmost section from South Station through Boston, Quincy, and Braintree is shared with the Kingston Line and Greenbush Line. The line continues south through Randolph, Holbrook, Avon, Brockton, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, and Bridgewater. Intermediate stations are served at , , , , , , , and .
In downtown Middleborough, it turns west at Pilgrim Junction just north of Middleborough station. It follows the Middleboro Secondary west to Cotley Junction in southern Taunton, then the New Bedford Main Line southeast to Myricks via East Taunton station. From Myricks, the New Bedford Branch follows the New Bedford Main Line to New Bedford station via Church Street station, while the Fall River Branch follows the Fall River Secondary to Fall River station via Freetown station.
Like the rest of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, the line operates using push-pull trains with diesel locomotives. Maximum speeds are south of Braintree and to the north. The line is mostly single track with passing sidings; there is some double track in Boston, Quincy, Braintree, and Brockton, and between Cotley Junction and Myricks Junction. Layover yards for the line are located in Fall River and New Bedford, plus an older yard in Middleborough. All stations are accessible with full-length high-level platforms.
, the portion between East Taunton and Boston has 16 round trips on weekdays and 13 on weekends. These trips are split approximately equally between the Fall River and New Bedford branches. On weekdays, most Boston trains have a shuttle train serving the other branch, with a cross-platform transfer at East Taunton. Typical running times for through trains are 94 to 109 minutes. The CapeFlyer operates one daily round trip between Boston and Hyannis on Friday evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays during the summer tourist season (typically Memorial Day weekend in late May to Labor Day weekend in early September). It uses the portion of the line north of Middleborough with stops at Braintree and Brockton.
History Previous service Old Colony Railroad
The Fall River Railroad was formed in March 1845 as the merger of three smaller railroads. It opened in phases from June 9, 1845 to December 21, 1846, forming a line between Fall River and South Braintree via Middleborough. At South Braintree, it connected with the Old Colony Railroad, which had opened between Boston and Plymouth on November 10, 1845. In 1847, the railroad opened a short extension to Fall River Wharf and began Fall River Line rail–steamboat service between Boston and New York. The Cape Cod Railroad opened from Middleborough to Sandwich on Cape Cod in 1848 and to Hyannis in 1854. The Old Colony and the Fall River merged in 1854 to form the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad. Schedules permitted commuting to Boston from as far south as Bridgewater from then onwards. North Bridgewater (later renamed Brockton) was a turnback point for short turn trains in the late 1850s and early 1860s.
The Dighton and Somerset Railroad, owned by the Old Colony and Newport (1863 successor to the Old Colony and Fall River), opened in September 1866. It connected to the Fall River Railroad line at Braintree Highlands and Somerset Junction, providing a shorter Boston–Fall River route that also served Taunton. The Dighton and Somerset became the railroad's primary Boston–Fall River route, but the older route remained busy with Cape Cod traffic. The Old Colony and Newport Railroad and the Cape Cod Railroad merged in 1872 to form the Old Colony Railroad. in southern Brockton was a turnback point from the early 1870s on.
Continued traffic growth led the Old Colony to double-track several of their main lines in the 1880s and 1890s. Double track was extended south from South Braintree to Randolph in 1882, to Campello in 1883, to Bridgewater in 1884, and Middleborough in 1885. Schedules were consistently suitable for commuting from Middleborough after the mid-1880s. The West Bridgewater Branch, which connected the line with the Dighton and Somerset, was completed in 1888. Double track was completed from Middleborough to in 1893. Schedules permitted commuting from Cape Cod beginning in 1894.
New Haven Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad leased the Old Colony in 1893. A construction project lasting from 1894 to 1897 elevated the tracks through downtown Brockton to eliminate grade crossings. Service on the Middleborough line was at its peak from about 1898 to 1914. In 1898, daily inbound service to Boston included six trains from Cape Cod, three from Fall River, six from Middleborough, seven from Campello, and one from via the West Bridgewater Branch. There were also three trains from to Boston that operated south from Montello through Brockton then used branchlines to reach Boston. Numerous trains from the Old Colony Division's many branches used the mainline north of Braintree; many of them split and merged at Braintree.
The middle section of the original Fall River Railroad, between Middleborough and Myricks, lost importance after the turn of the century, though commuter service from Fall River was available for several years beginning in 1915. Service levels began to decline during World War I when freight was given priority and continued to decline thereafter. Commuter-suitable service was not always available from Cape Cod after 1919. By 1924, inbound service included five trains from Cape Cod, one from Fall River, five from Middleborough, three from Bridgewater, eight from Campello, and one from North Easton via the West Bridgewater Branch (on which service ended in 1925). Fall River service via Middleborough ended in 1931.
Abandonment
The New Haven Railroad declared bankruptcy in 1935, setting off a 12-year-long reorganization process. The Old Colony lease was a major liability to the New Haven. It ended the lease in 1936 but was forced to continue operating the division. In the 88 stations case, the New Haven controversially closed 88 stations in Massachusetts on July 17, 1938. (part 2, part 3) Three were on the Middleborough line and three more between Middleborough and the Cape Cod Canal. In May 1939, the company proposed to abandon all passenger service in the "Boston Group" – the primary group of lines into Boston, including the Greenbush, Plymouth, and Middleborough lines and the shared mainline north of Braintree. A revised proposal that September was to keep Boston–Braintree service plus limited commute-hour service as far as Campello, , and Hingham.
After further controversy, a compromise schedule took effect on March 31, 1940, with service cut nearly in half but no lines abandoned. This schedule only required use of a single track and passing sidings south of Bridgewater; the second track between Bridgewater and Buzzards Bay was removed over the following two years. On February 18, 1941, the Interstate Commerce Commission refused abandonment of the Boston Group, forcing the New Haven to continue operations on the Old Colony. Additional traffic during World War II temporarily boosted the railroad's fortunes, but the postwar years again saw mounting deficits on the Old Colony Division. Sharp cuts in March 1949 removed most off-peak service; the Middleborough line was left with two inbound trains from Cape Cod and three from Middleborough.
Under the 1951–1954 presidency of Frederic C. Dumaine Jr., the New Haven increased passenger service, using new Budd Rail Diesel Cars to reduce costs. By April 1954, there were three daily inbound trains from Cape Cod, four from Middleborough, and six from Brockton. However, Patrick B. McGinnis taking the railroad's presidency in 1954 resulted in deferred maintenance and cancelled plans for further service expansion. The New Haven again proposed to abandon all Old Colony service. A temporary state subsidy was introduced in 1958 to continue Greenbush, Plymouth, Middleborough, and Cape Cod service for an additional year while the Southeast Expressway and other highways were under construction. The final day of service was June 30, 1959, as the subsidy expired. Bus companies including the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway and Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway expanded their South Shore commuter service.
1960s and 1970s
In early 1960, state and Cape Cod officials reached an agreement with the New Haven to operate Boston–Cape Cod and New York–Cape Cod service during the busy summer tourist season. The New York trains, the Day Cape Codder and Neptune, operated as planned. However, the wooden trestles of the drawbridge carrying the Old Colony main line over the Neponset River between Boston and Quincy burned on the night of July 22–23, 1960. The New Haven collected insurance money but refused to rebuild the bridge, instead rerouting freight trains via Middleborough. For passengers, connections were provided between Shore Line trains and New York–Cape Cod trains at . For the 1961 season, Boston–Cape Cod service ran via Stoughton. The New York trains ran until 1964. Freight service continued to use the Middleborough line.