Middleborough/Lakeville Line

Middleborough/Lakeville station 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 is also an intermediate stop for seasonal CapeFlyer service to Cape Cod. Middleborough/Lakeville has a single full-length high-level side platform serving the line's single track.

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.

Station layout

The station is located on Commercial Drive off South Main Street ( Massachusetts Route 105) south of the Interstate 495 interchange. The station has a single curved high-level side platform, about long, on the west side of the single-track Cape Main Line. The 769-space parking lot and most of the platform are in Lakeville, while the northern portion of the platform is in Lakeville. Middleborough/Lakeville station is fully accessible. With 867 daily boardings in 2018, Middleborough/Lakeville was the busiest station on the line.

History

Former service

The Fall River Railroad opened between South Braintree and Fall River in stages from June 1845 to December 1846. Middleborough station was located at Courtland Street at the west edge of the downtown area. Haskins station (renamed Lakeville by 1854) was located on Bedford Street, Cape Cod, Fall River, and Taunton by 1892. The New Haven Railroad leased the Old Colony Railroad – which owned all lines meeting at Middleborough – in 1893. Lakeville station was briefly renamed Montwait, then back to Lakeville.

Service declined in the 20th century; passenger service on the lines to Taunton and Plymouth ended in 1927, followed by the original line to Fall River in 1931. The latter two lines were soon abandoned. The former Lakeville station, constructed in 1879, is still extant and has been converted for residential use. 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.

MBTA era

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

In 1984, a state-directed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) study found that restoration of commuter rail service would be feasible. 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. MBTA Commuter Rail Middleborough/Lakeville Line service to Middleborough/Lakeville station began on September 29, 1997.

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. The lot was expanded to 864 spaces in 2000. 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. The station attracted transit-oriented development in the form of adjacent apartment complexes. A 2007 study of commuter service to Wareham and Buzzards Bay proposed an additional stop near the former Rock station site. CapeFlyer summer weekend service between Boston and began on May 24, 2013, with a stop at Middleborough/Lakeville.

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 by 2030. A new Middleborough station was to replace the existing Middleborough/Lakeville station, which could not be served by South Coast Rail trains. 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.

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 additional 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. 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. A construction contract for the new station was awarded in August 2020; it is expected to open in late 2023.

References

External links

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MBTA - Middleborough/Lakeville

Stations along Old Colony Railroad lines
MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1997