In March 2025, communities along the South Coast at long last received the MBTA commuter rail service they had been promised for nearly three decades, connecting the Gateway Cities of Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford, and Brockton to Boston and bringing passenger rail back to the region for the first time since 1958.
State and local leaders said during a transportation conference at Bridgewater State University (BSU) last week that the South Coast Rail project has since helped bolster the region’s economic competitiveness, tourism, and housing growth.
But getting there was no easy feat, and it was only phase one. Just over a year later, state officials have yet to roll out a plan to finance and finish the second phase — also called the “full build” — that was proposed nearly a decade ago. The full build, in addition to adding new stops to the route, would provide faster, electrified service.
State Sen. Mark Montigny, a New Bedford Democrat who has led the call for rail service in the region since he was elected in 1993, joked that flying cars will exist before phase two.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation told CommonWealth Beacon the MBTA is prioritizing maintenance and repairs of the existing system over moving forward with the final phase. The full build is not outlined in the MBTA’s current five-year Capital Investment Plan.
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Published by MassINC