Kingston Line
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The Kingston Line is a
commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...
line of the
MBTA Commuter Rail The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's (MBTA's) transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track on 12 lines to 142 stations. It ...
system in southeastern Massachusetts, United States. It runs southeast from
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
with eight intermediate stops. Plymouth station, which served as a second outer terminal, has been indefinitely closed since 2021. The line originated as the
Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...
, which opened between Boston and
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
in 1845. It became the primary rail route between Boston and southeastern Massachusetts, serving a number of branches that the Old Colony built and acquired. The Old Colony merged in 1854 to become the
Old Colony and Fall River Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...
, in 1863 to become the Old Colony and Newport Railway, and in 1872 to become the
Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...
. It was leased by the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
in 1893. Commuter service peaked in the early 20th century and began to decline in the 1910s. 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 The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
to restore service on the Plymouth line began in the 1980s. Construction began in 1993 and service began in 1997.


Operations

The northern section of the line follows the
Middleborough Main Line The Fall River Railroad was a railroad that ran between Fall River and Braintree, Massachusetts, United States. It was formed in 1845 as a merger between three railroads, which opened in phases in 1845 and 1846. The railroad merged into the Ol ...
south through Boston, Quincy, and Braintree. That section is shared with the
Fall River/New Bedford Line 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, Massachusetts, Taunton, where ...
and Greenbush Line. At Braintree, the line switches to the Plymouth Branch, which continues southeast through Weymouth, Abington, Whitman,
Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler) or Ivar (born 1984), American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English ...
, Halifax, and
Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...
. Intermediate stations are served at , , , , , , and . In Kingston, the short Kingston Branch splits from the Plymouth Branch and runs south to Kingston station and the Kingston Layover. The Plymouth Branch continues southeast from the split to the currently-closed Plymouth station in northern
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
. The Plymouth Branch is single track with passing sidings, while the Kingston Branch is mostly double-tracked. The portion of the Middleborough Main Line used by the Kingston Line has a mixture of single and double track. Like the rest of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, the Kingston Line operates using push-pull trains with diesel locomotives. Maximum speeds are south of Braintree and to the north. , the line has 13 inbound and 12 outbound trips on weekdays and nine round trips on weekdays. Most trips operate the full length of the line, making all stops, with running times typically around 60 minutes. The last trips in each direction, plus the first weekday inbound trip, only operate between Braintree and Kingston. All stations are accessible with full-length high-level platforms.


History


Previous service


Old Colony Railroad

The
Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...
opened between and Plymouth on November 10, 1845. A short extension into Boston proper opened in March 1846. As the only rail line east of the Blue Hills, the Old Colony became the primary rail route between Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. The Old Colony built or acquired a number of other lines, all of which used the Old Colony mainline to access Boston. The Fall River Railroad (1846), Milton Branch (1847),
South Shore Line The South Shore Line is an electrically powered commuter rail line operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) between Millennium Station in downtown Chicago, Illinois and the South Bend Airport station in Sout ...
(1849),
Dighton and Somerset Railroad The Dighton and Somerset Railroad, currently referred to as the Dean Street Industrial Track, is a railroad that ran between Fall River, Massachusetts, Fall River and Braintree, Massachusetts. It opened in 1866; from the 1890s to the 1930s and ag ...
(1866), and
Granite Branch Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
(1871) all joined the mainline between and Boston. The Hanover Branch (1868) joined at , while the Bridgewater Branch (1847) joined at Whitman. The mainline was double-tracked between Boston and South Braintree in 1848 to serve the growing traffic. Schedules were suitable for commuting from as far south as South Braintree by 1847; commuter service to Plymouth was intermittent until around 1860 and consistent thereafter. Some
short turn In public transport, a short turn, short working or turn-back is a service on a bus route or rail line that does not operate along the full length of the route. Short turn trips are often scheduled and published in a Public transport timetable, ti ...
trains terminated at Whitman after 1860. The Old Colony merged in 1854 to become the
Old Colony and Fall River Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...
, in 1863 to become the Old Colony and Newport Railway, and in 1872 to become the Old Colony Railroad. The Plymouth and Vineyard Sound Railroad, an extension beyond Plymouth to Cape Cod, was proposed in the 1860s, but only the Cape Cod section between and was built. Major wrecks took place on the mainline at Wollaston in 1878 and at Quincy in 1890. To reduce congestion on the busy mainline and make trains faster, the Old Colony used a practice called flying switches. The rear coaches of moving trains were disconnected at speed near junctions and brought to a halt to serve as branchline trains, while the rest of the train continued without stopping. The practice was ended after an 1883 incident at Neponset. After Old Colony acquired the
Boston and Providence Railroad The Boston and Providence Railroad was a railroad company in the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island which connected its namesake cities. It opened in two sections in 1834 and 1835 - one of the Rail transportation in the United States, fir ...
in 1888, some trains were routed via the Stoughton Branch to reduce mainline congestion.


New Haven Railroad

The
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
leased the Old Colony in 1893. Passenger service on the Old Colony Division was at its peak from around 1898 to 1914. In 1898, daily inbound service to Boston included seven trains from Plymouth and five from Whitman plus some through trains from the Bridgewater and Hanover branches. Six South Shore trains used the line between Plymouth and Kingston. The mainline was relocated between South Boston and in 1897–1898 to eliminate grade crossings in preparation for the 1899 opening of
South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan I ...
. The line was quadruple-tracked from South Boston to in 1901–02, to Neponset in 1911–12, and to in 1913, including grade crossing eliminations. Double track was added between Kingston and Plymouth in 1900 and between South Braintree and Whitman in 1907. During World War I, a short branch was built from the mainline to the Victory Destroyer Plant to carry materials and workers. Systemwide passenger service levels began to decline during the war when freight was given priority, and continued to decline thereafter. By 1924, inbound service included six trains from Plymouth, three from Whitman, two from the Bridgewater Branch, and four from Hanover. Bridgewater Branch service ended in 1925. Part of the
Cambridge–Dorchester Line The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south and east underground from Alewife station in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, North Cambr ...
was constructed along a section of the main line plus the Shawmut Branch in the 1926s, ending service to the innermost stations. Despite the cuts, by 1935 the mainline still saw over 100 trains per day.


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.
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Four were on the Plymouth line – North Hanson, Burrage, , and Plympton. In May 1939, the company proposed to abandon of all passenger service in the "Boston Group" – the primary group of lines into Boston, including the Greenbush,
Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
, 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 between South Braintree and Plymouth, and the second track was removed over the following two years. On February 18, 1941, the
Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later Trucking industry in the United States, truc ...
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. Hanover Branch service ended in 1948. Sharp cuts in March 1949 removed most off-peak service; the Plymouth line was left with just three daily round trips. The northern section of the mainline was reduced to two tracks in the early 1950s. Under the 1951–1954 presidency of Frederic C. Dumaine Jr., the New Haven increased passenger service, using new
Budd Rail Diesel Car The Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC), also known as the Budd car or Buddliner, is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars ...
s to reduce costs. By April 1954, there were seven daily inbound trains from Plymouth, and 15 trains from South Braintree supplemented service on the mainline. However, Patrick B. McGinnis taking the railroad's presidency in 1954 resulted in deferred maintenance and canceled 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 The Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway (Eastern Mass) was a streetcar and later bus company in eastern Massachusetts, serving northern and southern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. Its precursor company was the Bay State Street Railway, which ...
and Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway expanded their South Shore commuter service.


1960s and 1970s

the wooden trestles of the drawbridge carrying the Old Colony main line over the
Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...
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. The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
(MBTA) was formed in August 1964 as an expansion of the urban Metropolitan Transit Authority into the surrounding suburbs. The MBTA was intended to subsidize commuter rail service – and to replace much of it with rapid transit extensions. The MBTA's first such project was a branch of the Red Line (Cambridge–Dorchester Line) following the Old Colony alignment to Braintree. In November 1965, the MBTA purchased the Old Colony main line between Boston and South Braintree from the New Haven. The Red Line opened to Quincy Center station in September 1971 and Braintree station in South Braintree in March 1980. Within Boston, a single freight track paralleled the new tracks. Although there was no freight service through Quincy, a single-track right-of-way was reserved for future freight use when the extension was built. The New Haven Railroad merged into
Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals, the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...
at the end of 1968. In 1970, following revolts against freeways in the urban core, Massachusetts governor
Francis Sargent Francis Williams Sargent (July 29, 1915 – October 22, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 64th governor of Massachusetts from 1969 to 1975. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 63rd lieutenant governo ...
placed a moratorium on new highway construction inside the Route 128 beltway. The resulting cancellation of the Southwest Expressway by the Boston Transportation Planning Review meant the already-overcrowded Southeast Expressway would continue to be the only highway into Boston from the south. In January 1973, the MBTA acquired most of Penn Central's suburban lines around Boston, including the Plymouth line. Freight service continued to operate on the line, though the segment from North Plymouth to Plymouth was out of service by the late 1970s.


Restoration

In 1984, a state-directed MBTA study found that restoration of commuter rail service on the former Old Colony lines would be feasible. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement for restoration of service on the Middleborough, Plymouth, and Greenbush lines was released in May 1990. It called for the terminal to be in North Plymouth south of Cordage Park, with Kingston/Route 3 station next to the Route 3 expressway. A layover yard would have been built in Cordage Park. In 1991, the state agreed to build a set of transit projects as part of the settlement of a lawsuit by the
Conservation Law Foundation Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) is an environmental advocacy organization based in New England, United States. Since 1966, CLF's mission has been to advocate for New England's environment and its communities. CLF's advocacy work takes place acr ...
(CLF) over auto emissions from the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (
Big Dig The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 90 to Logan I ...
). Among these projects was the "Old Colony Commuter Rail Line Extension", to be complete by the end of 1996. The terminal plans became the subject of local controversy. The owner of both the proposed station sites objected to both; he planned to develop the Plymouth station site with residential buildings, and did not wish to sell the Kingston station site where he owned a beer distribution warehouse. The Cordage Park owners objected to the layover yard on their property but wanted the station moved there. In April 1991, the MBTA announced a new plan. A new rail spur would be built along Route 3 with a Kingston station and layover yard in a former sand and gravel lot being redeveloped as an industrial park. The Plymouth station would be built at Cordage Park with no layover yard; it would only have off-peak and weekend service, with peak-hour service only running to Kingston. The Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Middleborough and Plymouth lines – often called the "Old Colony Lines" – was released in 1992. It incorporated the terminal changes announced in 1991. It also moved the Abington station from North Abington to a site near the town center and removed a potential stop in downtown Kingston. Construction of the $560 million project began in 1993, with service then expected to begin in late 1996. Which stations to include on the shared mainline between Braintree and Boston also proved controversial. Original plans called only for a stop at Braintree. In September 1995, state governor
Bill Weld William Floyd Weld (born July 31, 1945) is an American attorney, businessman, author, and politician who served as the Governor of Massachusetts, 68th Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. A Harvard University, Harvard graduate, Weld be ...
announced that a platform would be built at instead. Later that year, the MBTA agreed to build both stations. In November 1996, the MBTA agreed to add a stop at JFK/UMass station as well.
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Limited weekday service with four daily round trips each on the Middleborough/Lakeville Line and Plymouth/Kingston line began on September 29, 1997. Full service, including service to Plymouth, began on November 30, 1997. The Kingstone Line had fifteen round trips on weekdays and eight on weekends. Weekend and some weekday trains began stopping at JFK/UMass on April 30, 2001.


Service since 1997

In 2007, concrete ties used on the Old Colony Lines began to fail due to manufacturing errors. The rate of failures increased during the following two winters, affecting service and causing speed restrictions. In 2010, the MBTA began a project to replace the 150,000 failing ties, which were part of a batch of 600,000 made in the 1990s, with wooden ties. Some replacement work in Bridgewater and Middleborough took place in 2010. Midday weekday service on the Plymouth/Kingston Line was replaced by buses from May 31 to September 19, 2011. Weekend service on the line was replaced from April 30 to December 18, 2011. The project was completed in May 2012 at a cost of $91.5 million. Weekend service on the Plymouth/Kingston Line,
Needham Line The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just ...
, and Greenbush Line was eliminated on July 7, 2012, as a part of fare increases and service cuts to close the agency's operating budget shortfall. The MBTA ran special weekend service to Plymouth for two weekends leading up to the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday. The two round trips per day were intended only for tourists going to Plymouth; they did not run on schedules allowing day trips to Boston. Full weekend service on the Plymouth/Kingston Line, as well as weekend service on the Greenbush Line and Saturday service on the
Needham Line The Needham Line is a branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, running west from downtown Boston, Massachusetts through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and the town of Needham. The second-shortest line of the system at just ...
, resumed on December 27, 2014. The fork at the end of the Kingston/Plymouth Line (which lacks a wye) created operational issues – a single train could not serve both terminal stations efficiently. By 2015, the MBTA had intended to address the issue with schedule changes. Substantially reduced schedules were in effect on the Commuter Rail system from March 16 to June 23, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2020, as part of service cuts during the pandemic, the MBTA proposed to close along with five other low-ridership stations on other lines. On December 14, the MBTA Board voted to enact a more limited set of cuts, including indefinitely closing Plymouth and four of the other five stations. That day, temporary reduced schedules were again put into place. On January 23, 2021, reduced schedules went into place with no weekend service on seven lines, including the Kingston/Plymouth Line. Plymouth station closed on April 5, 2021, with the line renamed the Kingston Line. That schedule change also included
regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...
-style service with more frequency midday service on the Kingston Line. Additionally, the last Kingston-bound train of the night departed from Braintree station, with a timed transfer from a Middleborough/Lakeville Line train. Weekend service on the Kingston line and the six other lines resumed on July 3, 2021. In June 2021, the MBTA indicated that Plymouth station would reopen on July 5, 2022 (the start of a new fiscal year). The station did not reopen at that time, however, with a date for service restoration not announced. By October 2022, Kingston service was at 69% of pre-COVID ridership.


Stations


Notes


References


External links


MBTA – Kingston Line
{{MBTA MBTA Commuter Rail Old Colony Railroad 1997 establishments in Massachusetts