New Bedford
New Bedford station near completion in December 2023
General information
Location536 Acushnet Avenue
New Bedford, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°38′36.23″N 70°55′31.33″W / 41.6433972°N 70.9253694°W / 41.6433972; -70.9253694
Line(s)New Bedford Subdivision
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport SRTA: 1, 2[1]
Construction
Bicycle facilities8 spaces
AccessibleYes
History
Openingmid-2024 (planned)
ClosedSeptember 5, 1958
RebuiltJune 21, 1886
Planned services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Church Street
toward South Station
 South Coast Rail Terminus

New Bedford station is an under-construction MBTA Commuter Rail station in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The station is being constructed as part of the South Coast Rail project and is expected to open in mid-2024.

History

Former service

Early-20th-century postcard of the station

The New Bedford and Taunton Railroad opened between its namesake cities in July 1840.[2]: 398  An Egyptian Revival station designed by Russell Warren was located at Pearl Street in downtown New Bedford.[3] A short extension to New Bedford Wharf to serve New York steamships opened in July 1873; the Pearl Street station remained the main station for the city.[2]: 398  The Fall River Railroad (Watuppa Branch) opened from Fall River to Mount Pleasant Junction north of downtown Fall River in December 1875.[2]: 399 

Service was consolidated under the New Bedford Railroad (1874), Boston, Clinton, Fitchburg and New Bedford Railroad (1876), Old Colony Railroad (1879), and finally the New Haven Railroad (1893). Schedules allowing commuting from New Bedford to Boston were not introduced until 1885.[4]: 31  The Old Colony opened a new station, slightly to the east of the Pearl Street station, on June 21, 1886. Designed by Henry Paston Clark, it was a Romanesque stone structure.[3]

Grade crossings in New Bedford were eliminated around 1908.[5] Watuppa Branch service was out-competed by electric streetcars in the 1890s; the final passenger service (a single daily mixed train) ended in 1918.[2]: 399  Passenger service to New Bedford Wharf slowly declined, and was discontinued entirely by the mid-1950s.[6] All passenger service between New Bedford and Boston ended on September 5, 1958.[4]: 36 

South Coast Rail

The footbridge under construction in 2023

In September 2008, MassDOT released 18 potential station sites for the South Coast Rail project, including two in downtown New Bedford: Whale's Tooth (the name of a ferry parking lot) at the former station location, and State Pier at State Pier Maritime Terminal (the former steamship wharf).[7] Only the Whale's Tooth site was selected for inclusion; a 2010 conceptual design called for a single side platform serving a single track, with a station building and bus plaza at the north end of the parking lot. The existing footbridge over Route 18 at Pearl Street would be rebuilt.[8] A 2009 corridor plan called for mixed-use transit-oriented development along Route 18 around the new station.[9]

On June 11, 2010, the state took ownership of the New Bedford Subdivision and several other CSX lines as part of a sale agreement.[10] Plans released as part of the Final Environmental Impact Report in 2013 placed the Wamsutta layover yard just north of the station, with a second track serving as yard access and a freight passing track. The station building and bus plaza were removed from the design; the existing footbridge would be reused.[11]

In 2017, the project was re-evaluated due to cost issues. A new proposal released in March 2017 called for early service via Middleborough by 2024, followed by full service via Stoughton by 2029.[12] In 2019, the planned station name was changed from Whale's Tooth to New Bedford for clarity.[13] By then, a new footbridge at Willis Street (a block south of the existing bridge) was added to the design. It was to have two truss spans, with a ramp from the bridge to the station.[14]

The MBTA awarded a $403.5 million contract for the Middleborough Secondary and New Bedford Secondary portions of the project, including New Bedford station, on August 24, 2020; construction was expected to begin later in 2020 and take 37 months.[15] The line was expected to open in late 2023.[16] The contract was 18% complete by November 2021, with New Bedford station construction just beginning, and 53% complete by August 2022.[17][18][19] A $21.3 million contract for the new footbridge was awarded in December 2022. It will have a tied arch span and two elevators at the east end.[20] Bridge construction began in May 2023.[21] Opening was delayed to mid-2024 in September 2023; at that point, the station was 94% complete and expected to be finished by the end of the year.[22][23]

References

  1. ↑ VHB/HNTB (January 31, 2018). "Chapter 2 – Alternatives Analysis". South Coast Rail Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. p. 51.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. ISBN 9780942147124.
  3. 1 2 Barnes, Bruce (February 2006). "Railroad Depots of New Bedford's Past" (PDF). New Bedford Preservation Society.
  4. 1 2 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. ISBN 9780685412947.
  5. ↑ "Annual Report of N.Y., N.H. & H." Hartford Courant. October 3, 1907. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Table 19: Boston-New Bedford-Fall River". THE SCENIC SHORELINE ROUTE SERVING NEW YORK AND NEW ENGLAND. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. April 24, 1955. p. 31 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  7. ↑ "South Coast Rail Fact Sheet: October 2008" (PDF). South Coast Rail. October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 12, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Whale's Tooth Station Plan View" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. February 3, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2011.
  9. ↑ South Coast Rail Economic Development and Land Use Corridor Plan (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. June 2009. p. 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2013.
  10. ↑ "The Massachusetts Rail Program" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 2010. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2012.
  11. ↑ "Figure 3.2-31 Whale's Tooth Station Conceptual Station Design" (PDF). Volume II: FEIS/FEIR Figures Final Environmental Impact Statement/Final Environmental Impact Report on the South Coast Rail Project proposed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District. August 2013.
  12. ↑ Dungca, Nicole (March 22, 2017). "State changes gears on Middleborough commuter rail plan". Boston Globe. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  13. ↑ Barnes, Jennette (September 6, 2019). "Proposed King's Highway train station moved to Church Street". South Coast Today.
  14. ↑ "South Coast Rail - Phase 1: New Bedford Public Meeting". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 17, 2019. pp. 14–16.
  15. ↑ "FMCB Approves $403.5 Million Contract for South Coast Rail Main Line Construction" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 24, 2020.
  16. ↑ Tabakin, Jennifer (May 11, 2020). "South Coast Rail Phase 1 Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  17. ↑ "Fall 2021 Fact Sheet" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 2021. p. 1.
  18. ↑ "South Coast Rail Fall Update" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 19, 2021.
  19. ↑ "South Coast Rail Fall River Construction Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 13, 2022.
  20. ↑ Tabakin, Jennifer (December 15, 2022). "K78CN06 – SCR Phase 1: Rt 18 Pedestrian Bridge, New Bedford" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  21. ↑ Gallerani, Kathryn (June 13, 2023). "South Coast Rail project could affect your commute in New Bedford this summer. Here's how". South Coast Today. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
  22. ↑ Medeiros, Dan (September 29, 2023). "South Coast Rail passenger service is being delayed. Here's why, explained in 60 seconds". The Herald News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023.
  23. ↑ "South Coast Rail Shows Visible Progress" (PDF). South Coast Rail Fall 2023 Fact Sheet. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Fall 2023. p. 1.

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