Middleborough station

Middleborough
GATRA[1]
Construction
Parking	500 spaces
Accessible	Yes
History
Opening	Mid-2024 (planned)
Passengers
2030	670 daily boardings (projected)[1]: 66
Planned services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Bridgewater toward South Station South Coast Rail East Taunton toward Fall River or New Bedford
Former services Preceding station Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad Following station Bridgewater toward Braintree Braintree-Hyannis 1984-1988 Wareham toward Hyannis or Falmouth Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station Titicut toward Boston Boston–​Middleborough Terminus Bridgewater toward Boston Boston–​Woods Hole Tremont toward Woods Hole Boston–​Hyannis Tremont toward Hyannis Brockton toward Boston Boston–​Provincetown Tremont toward Provincetown Taunton toward New York Cape Codder until 1937 Wareham toward Hyannis or Woods Hole Terminus Plymouth and Middleborough Branch East Middleborough toward Plymouth
Location

Middleborough station (also called Pilgrim Junction) is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in Middleborough, Massachusetts. It is expected to open in mid-2024 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

From 1984 to 1988, Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad seasonal commuter and excursion service stopped in Middleborough at the former station, which was demolished in the 1990s. MBTA service on the Middleborough/Lakeville line began in 1997, using Middleborough/Lakeville station to the south rather than the downtown station site. In 2017, a re-evaluation of the South Coast Rail project proposed an interim route via Middleborough, with a new Middleborough station. The site at the Pilgrim Junction wye was chosen in 2018, and a construction contract was awarded in 2020.

Station layout

The station is located inside the wye between the north-south Middleborough Main Line and the east-west Middleboro Secondary, slightly south of downtown Middleborough. The 800-foot (240 m)-long high-level platform will be located on the northwest leg of the wye, with pedestrian access to West Grove Street (Route 28) at its northeast end. A 500-space parking lot will be located inside the wye, with an access driveway running southeast to South Main Street (Route 105) at its intersection with I-495 ramps. Space is reserved for a proposed 400-foot (120 m)-long platform on the southwest leg of the wye (across from the Middleborough Layover, the main layover yard for the Middleborough/Lakeville Line) to serve future shuttle trains to Cape Cod.^[1]: 37 The station is expected to draw 670 daily boardings by 2030.^[1]: 66

History

Old Colony Railroad

The

The Old Colony began work on a new station in November 1885.[9] It was completed in 1887. The Tudor-style station (similar to the still-extant Kingston station) was located at Station Street, replacing the original Fall River Railroad station on the same site.^[10][7][11]

The Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad opened between its namesake cities in 1892 and was immediately leased to the Old Colony. The next year, the Old Colony was acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.^[3]: 406 Middleborough served as a rail hub for southeastern Massachusetts, with lines in five directions. Facilities at Middleborough included a freight house, a freight yard, and a roundhouse.^[10]

20th century

Grade crossings were eliminated in downtown Middleborough in 1900.^[12][13] Centre Street and Grove Street were placed on bridges over the tracks, while South Main Street was depressed under the tracks.^[14]

Passenger service on the lightly-used branch to Plymouth was discontinued in 1927; this also ended local service between Taunton and Middleborough, which had operated as a Plymouth–Middleborough–Taunton service (sometimes through-routed to Providence).^[15][16][17] Freight service on the Plymouth–Middleborough line, largely used by cranberry growers near the line, ended in 1939.^[3]: 407 Passenger service on the Middleborough–Myricks section of the original Fall River line ended in 1931; freight service ended in 1932, and the line was abandoned in 1937.^[3]: 401 Rock and South Middleboro stations were closed on July 17, 1938, as part of the 88 stations case, a massive and controversial station closure.^[18][19]

Middleborough was a stop for New York–Cape Cod trains (with a short backup move to reach the station) until 1938, after which the trains ran express between Taunton and Wareham.^[20][21] This year-round Cape Codder service ran until 1958, then only during summers from 1960 to 1964.^[22] Commuter service to Boston (with Middleborough the outer terminus for some trains) ran until June 30, 1959, when the New Haven ceased all passenger service on the Old Colony Division.^[2] The bridge over the Neponset River burned soon afterwards, preventing any further service from Boston to the Cape stopping at Middleborough; a Boston–Hyannis train via Stoughton ran during the summer of 1961.^[22][2]

The lines north, west, and southeast from Middleborough remained in use for freight service: by the New Haven until 1969,

Restoration of passenger service was proposed intermittently through the 1960s and 1970s. On October 15, 1979, a special train ran from Braintree to Middleborough to publicize the state's plans for restored service.^[23] A 1974 state analysis of restoring commuter rail service indicated that the Middleborough station could be reused.^[24] From 1984 to 1988, Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad seasonal commuter and excursion service stopped in Middleborough at the former station.^[25][26] From 1986 to 1996, Amtrak's Cape Codder ran through Middleborough, but like the 1960s trains it did not stop there due to the station location. The former station was demolished in the 1990s.^[10] The 1887-built freight house was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Middleborough Center Historic District in 2000; it was proposed for restoration in 2011.^[11][27] It was destroyed by fire in October 2020.^[28][a]

In 1984, a state-directed

In 2017, the project was re-evaluated due to cost issues. The new proposal called for early service via Middleborough by 2022, followed by full service via Stoughton by 2030. A new Middleborough station was to replace the existing Middleborough/Lakeville station, which could not be served by South Coast Rail trains.^[35] Middleborough and Lakeville officials were critical of the possibility of abandoning the existing Middleborough/Lakeville station - which had attracted transit-oriented development - or requiring its riders to take a shuttle train, as well as possible traffic issues from a downtown Middleborough station.^[36]

The January 2018 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report considered three potential operational patterns: a reverse move to serve the existing station, shuttle service from the existing station to

Buildings at 161 South Main Street and 52 West Grove Street were demolished in 2020 to make room for the station and its parking lot.^[37] The MBTA awarded a $403.5 million contract for the Middleboro Secondary and New Bedford Secondary portions of the project, including Middleborough station, on August 24, 2020. The planned 37 months of construction began later in 2020, with a late 2023 opening expected.^[38] The station was 33% complete by February 2022, with all platform foundations in place.^[39] The platform and the canopy steelwork were in place by November 2022.^[40] Opening was delayed to mid-2024 in September 2023; at that point, the station was 98% complete and expected to be finished by the end of 2023.^[41][42]

Possible service to Cape Cod

The Middleborough station includes space for a potential future platform to serve shuttle trains to Cape Cod.^[1]: 37 In fall 2020, the MBTA began conducting a study to evaluate the feasibility of implementing Buzzards Bay commuter rail service in conjunction with South Coast Rail.^[43][44] Upon completion of the study in spring 2021, two different alternatives for service were presented, one of which would terminate at Buzzards Bay station and the other of which would terminate at Bourne station. Both service options would normally require passengers to transfer between trains at Middleborough, rather than offering a one-seat ride between Buzzards Bay and Boston, though the study also considered the possibility of one-seat rides to Boston being offered during off-peak hours.^[45]

References