New Bedford Subdivision

The New Bedford 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] The line runs from the end of the CSX Middleboro Subdivision near Weir Village (in Taunton) south to New Bedford[4] along a former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad line. It junctions the Fall River Subdivision at Myricks (in Berkley).

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	Weir Junction New Bedford
Stations	2 (future)
Services	South Coast Rail (future)
Operation
Planned opening	2023 (2023)
Owner	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Technical
Line length	18.5 miles (29.8 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 Middleboro Subdivision to Attleboro South Coast Rail (future Phase 1) 13.3 mi 21.4 km Weir Junction South Coast Rail (future Phase 2) Middleboro Subdivision to Middleborough/​Lakeville East Taunton (future) Myricks (closed) 16.9 mi 27.2 km Fall River Subdivision Fall River Branch (future) East Freetown (closed) Braleys (closed) Acushnet (closed) North New Bedford (future) Mount Pleasant Junction (closed) 29.2 mi 47 km North Dartmouth Industrial Track North Dartmouth (closed) Westport Factory (closed) Quequechan River Rail Trail Flint Village (closed) Watuppa (closed) 29.8 mi 48 km Sawyer Street Wamsutta Layover (future) New Bedford (future) Marine Terminal (closed) 31.8 mi 51.2 km

History

The New Bedford and Taunton Railroad completed the line from Taunton south to New Bedford in 1840.[5] It became part of the NYNH&H until 1958 Penn Central took over in 1968 Conrail took over in 1976. The New Bedford 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.[6] The agreement was signed on September 23, 2009.[7] 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.[8]

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". http://www.capecodtimes.com. Cape Cod Times. 25 November 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2015. External link in |website= (help)
4. CSX Timetables: New Bedford Subdivision
5. Hon. Edward Appleton, Railway Commissioner, History of the Railways of Massachusetts, 1871
6. "PATRICK ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT TO PURCHASE RAIL LINES" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 2, 2008.
7. "PATRICK-MURRAY ADMINISTRATION FINALIZES AGREEMENT WITH CSX TRANSPORTATION" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. September 23, 2009.
8. Richmond, Will (June 16, 2010). "State buys 38 miles of track for South Coast Rail". Herald News article.