Middleborough/Lakeville station

Middleborough/Lakeville is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Lakeville, Massachusetts, just south of the Middleborough border. It is the southern terminus of the Middleborough/Lakeville Line; it also serves seasonal CapeFlyer service. Middleborough/Lakeville has a single full-length high-level platform serving the line's single track.

This article is about the current station. For the planned station, see Middleborough station.
Middleborough/Lakeville
The platform at Middleborough/Lakeville, looking outbound
Location125 Commercial Drive
Lakeville, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°52′42″N 70°55′06″W
Owned byMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)Cape Main Line
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Connections GATRA: Downtown Middleborough Shuttle, Wareham/​Middleborough/​Lakeville Train Connector
Construction
Parking853 spaces ($4.00 fee)
14 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities8 spaces
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone8
History
OpenedSeptember 29, 1997[1]
Passengers
2018867 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Bridgewater
toward South Station
 Middleborough/​Lakeville Line Terminus
Brockton
toward South Station
 CapeFLYER Wareham Village
toward Hyannis

An older station was located in downtown Middleborough, serving passenger service from 1846 to 1959 and Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad service from 1984 to 1988. The current station opened along with the rest of the Old Colony Lines on September 29, 1997, and CapeFlyer service began in 2013. The station is planned to be closed to commuter rail service when the new Middleborough station opens in 2023 as part of South Coast Rail, though it will remain open for CapeFlyer and additional commuter parking.

History

Former service
A 1911 postcard of Middleborough station

The Fall River Railroad opened between South Braintree and Fall River in stages from June 1945 to December 1946.[3][4]:403 Middleborough station was located at Courtland Street at the west edge of the downtown area.[5] Two other stations were located in Middleborough on the 1856-opened Cape Main Line south of downtown: Rock (also known as Rock Meeting House) at Miller Street in Rock Village, and South Middleboro at Spruce Street.[6] Middleborough became a major railroad junction, with lines in five directions to Boston, Plymouth, Cape Cod, Fall River, and Taunton by 1892.

Service declined in the 20th century, with the lines to Plymouth and Fall River abandoned in the 1930s; Rock and South Middleboro stations were closed on July 17, 1938, as part of a massive station closure. Commuter service between Cape Cod and Boston via Middleborough ended on June 30, 1959. The lines north, west, and southeast from Middleborough remained in use for freight service: by the New Haven until 1969, Penn Central to 1971, Conrail to 1997, and CSX since. Freight service southeast from Middleborough was taken over by the Bay Colony Railroad shortline in 1982 and the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad in 2007, interchanging with CSX at Middleborough Yard.[4]:413

MBTA era
A nearby apartment complex built as transit-oriented development

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.[7] A 1974 state analysis of restoring commuter rail service indicated that the Middleborough station could be reused.[8] From 1984 to 1988, Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad seasonal commuter and excursion service stopped in Middleborough at the former station.[9][10] The former station was demolished in the 1990s.[11]

In 1984, a state-directed MBTA study found that restoration of commuter rail service would be feasible.[12] A Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was released in May 1990, followed by a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) in 1992. Both called for a Middleborough/Lakeville station off Route 105 south of Middleborough on the Lakeville border, rather than reusing the old station site.[13][14] MBTA Commuter Rail Middleborough/Lakeville Line service to Middleborough/Lakeville station began on September 29, 1997.[1]

The station opened with around 400 parking spaces, which was immediately insufficient due to commuters driving from areas to the south as well as from Middleborough and Lakeville.[15][16][17] The lot was expanded to 864 spaces in 2000.[18][19][20] A dirt lot was closed in November 2003 due to safety concerns and falling demand after the completion of the Big Dig, reducing the station to 769 spaces.[21][18][22] The station attracted transit-oriented development in the form of adjacent apartment complexes.[18] A 2007 study of commuter service to Wareham and Buzzards Bay proposed an additional stop near the former Rock station site.[6] CapeFLYER summer weekend service between Boston and Hyannis began on May 24, 2013 with a stop at Middleborough/Lakeville.[1]

South Coast Rail

In 2017, the South Coast Rail 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.[23] Middleborough and Lakeville officials were critical of the possibility of abandoning the current Middleborough/Lakeville station or requiring its riders to take a shuttle train, as well as possible traffic issues from a downtown Middleborough station.[24]

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 Bridgewater station, or a new Middleborough station with a bus shuttle from the existing station. The latter was preferred because it had a shorter travel time than the reverse move, and would not require new double track as the Bridgewater shuttle would. The new Middleborough station will be located in the wye (Pilgrim Junction) between the Middleborough Main Line and Middleboro Secondary.[25] The CapeFLYER will continue to use Middleborough/Lakeville station, as the new station will not have a platform on the Middleborough Main Line. However, the new station includes space for a future platform to serve shuttle trains to Cape Cod.[25]:37 A construction contract for the new station was awarded in August 2020; it is expected to open in late 2023.[26]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. Humphrey, Thomas J. & Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 95–96. ISBN 9780685412947.
  4. Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. ISBN 9780942147124.
  5. Neumann, Louis E. (1874). "Map of the town of Middleborough : Plymouth Co. Mass. : from actual surveys". J.B. Beers & Co – via Norman B. Leventhal Map Center.
  6. Humphrey, Thomas J. (January 2007). "Buzzards Bay Commuter Rail Extension Feasibility Study". Central Transportation Planning Staff of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization – via State Library of Massachusetts.
  7. Humphrey, Thomas J. & Clark, Norton D. (1986). Boston's Commuter Rail: Second Section. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 25. ISBN 9780938315025.
  8. Massachusetts General Court Legislative Research Council (1974). Report relative to railroad service from Boston to Brockton and Cape Cod. p. 31 – via Internet Archive.
  9. Pillsbury, Fred (June 30, 1984). "Passenger train service to Cape Cod begins anew: Hyannis, Falmouth—All aboard!". The Boston Globe. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Cape Cod & Hyannis Railroad Spring Schedule, Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad, May 27, 1988 – via Wikimedia Commons
  11. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780942147087.
  12. "Executive Summary". Old Colony Railroad Rehabilitation Project from Boston to Lakeville, Plymouth and Scituate, Massachusetts: Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report. United States Department of Transportation Urban Mass Transportation Administration. March 1992. p. ES-4 – via Internet Archive.
  13. "Figure VIII-B7: Middleborough/Lakeville Station Conceptual Site Plan". Old Colony Railroad Rehabilitation Project from Boston to Lakeville, Plymouth and Scituate, Massachusetts: Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report. 3. United States Department of Transportation Urban Mass Transportation Administration. May 1990 – via Google Books.
  14. "Figure VIII-B7: Middleborough/Lakeville Station Conceptual Site Plan". Old Colony Railroad Rehabilitation Project from Boston to Lakeville, Plymouth and Scituate, Massachusetts: Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report. 3. United States Department of Transportation Urban Mass Transportation Administration. 1992 – via Google Books.
  15. Preer, Robert (March 28, 1999). "Around the towns". Boston Globe. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Palmer, Thomas C., Jr (September 30, 1997). "Old Colony commuter service gets back on track". Boston Globe. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Preer, Robert (February 1, 1998). "It's 'all aboard' new rail service". Boston Globe. pp. 15, 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. Southeastern Massachusetts Metropolitan Planning Organization and Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (2012). "Commuter Rail" (PDF). 2012 Regional Transportation Plan. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2011.
  19. Kandarian, Paul A. (November 12, 2000). "Parking grind at rail stations". Boston Globe. pp. 15, 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Middleborough/Lakeville Commuter Station". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on December 18, 2001.
  21. "Lakeville". Boston Globe. November 13, 2003. p. 170 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Middleborough/Lakeville". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010.
  23. "Notice of Project Change" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. March 15, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 18, 2017.
  24. Laidler, John (June 16, 2017). "Sharp differences over latest plan for South Coast Rail". Boston Globe. Retrieved June 18, 2017.
  25. VHB/HNTB (January 31, 2018). "Chapter 2 – Alternatives Analysis". South Coast Rail Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report. Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
  26. "FMCB Approves $403.5 Million Contract for South Coast Rail Main Line Construction" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 24, 2020.
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