Fall River Subdivision

The Fall River Subdivision is a freight railroad line in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, with freight operations handled by the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad;[3] it was formerly owned and operated by CSX Transportation. The line runs from the New Bedford Subdivision at Myricks (in Berkley) south to Fall River[4] along a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line. At its south end, at the Rhode Island state line in Fall River, it becomes a line of the Providence and Worcester Railroad.

New Bedford Subdivision
Overview
Type	Freight rail, future commuter rail
System	Massachusetts Coastal Railroad[1] MBTA Commuter Rail (future)
Status	Operational
Locale	Bristol County, Massachusetts
Termini	New Bedford Subdivision in Myricks, Massachusetts Newport Line in Tiverton, Rhode Island
Stations	3 (future)
Services	South Coast Rail (future)
Operation
Planned opening	2023 (2023)
Owner	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Technical
Line length	14.2 miles (22.9 km)[2]
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	10 miles per hour (16 km/h) (freight)[2]
Route map New Bedford Subdivision to East Taunton Myricks (closed) 0.0 mi 0 km New Bedford Subdivision to New Bedford Assonet (closed) Crystal Spring (closed) Freetown (future) Dighton and Somerset Railroad (former) 7.5 mi 12.1 km Somerset Junction (closed) Weaver's Cove Layover (future) Fall River (closed/future) 11.0 mi 17.7 km Wharf Yard 12.0 mi 19.3 km Battleship Cove (future) | Ferry Street (closed) 14.2 mi 22.9 km Newport Line

History

The Fall River Branch Railroad completed the line from Myricks south to Fall River in 1845.[5] The Old Colony and Newport Railway extended the line to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1864.[6] The line later became part of the NYNH&H until 1958 Penn Central took over in 1968 Conrail took over in 1976. The Fall River Subdivision was assigned to CSX in 1999 after the breakup of Conrail.

On October 2, 2008, the state government announced an agreement with CSX Transportation for the purchase and upgrade of several of CSX's freight lines in the state. CSX agreed to sell the Fall River Secondary and New Bedford Secondary for use by the South Coast Rail project, as well as the Grand Junction Branch, the Framingham-to-Worcester section of the Worcester Line, and the South Boston Running Track. Other parts of the agreement included plans for double-stack freights west of Worcester and the abandonment of Beacon Park Yard.[7] The agreement was signed on September 23, 2009.[8] On June 11, 2010, the state and CSX completed the first phase of the agreement, including the transfer of the South Coast Rail lines to MassDOT; the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad assumed freight rights on the two lines.[1] The two lines were sold for $21.5 million.[9]

The line is currently used primarily to transport chemicals to Borden & Remington in Fall River.[10]

See also

• List of CSX Transportation lines

References

1. "The Massachusetts Rail Program" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 2010. p. 7.
2. "Albany Division Timetable No. 4" (PDF). CSX Transportation. November 1, 2004.
3. "Cape Rail cuts track deal for freight". capecodtimes.com. Cape Cod Times. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
4. CSX Timetables: Fall River Subdivision
5. "PRR Chronology, 1845" (PDF). (40.4 KiB), March 2005 Edition
6. Hon. Edward Appleton, Railway Commissioner, History of the Railways of Massachusetts Archived August 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, 1871
7. "PATRICK ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE RAIL LINES" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 2, 2008.
8. "PATRICK-MURRAY ADMINISTRATION FINALIZES AGREEMENT WITH CSX TRANSPORTATION" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. September 23, 2009.
9. Richmond, Will (June 16, 2010). "State buys 38 miles of track for South Coast Rail". Herald News article.
10. Boremco