Freetown station

Freetown station is a future MBTA Commuter Rail station located in the Assonet village of Freetown, Massachusetts. It is planned to open in mid-2024 as part of the first phase of the South Coast Rail project. The station will have a single side platform on the west side of the Fall River Secondary, along with a park and ride lot.

Freetown
End view of a high-level railway platform
Freetown station during a ribbon cutting in December 2022
General information
LocationSouth Main Street
Assonet, Freetown, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°46′21.55″N 71°5′37.28″W
Line(s)Fall River Secondary
Platforms1 side platform (planned)
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport SRTA: 2[1]: 57 
Construction
Parking170 spaces
Bicycle facilities8 spaces
AccessibleYes
History
Openingmid-2024 (planned)
Passengers
203060 (projected weekday boardings)[1]: 66 
Planned services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Fall River
Terminus
 South Coast Rail East Taunton
toward South Station

The Fall River Railroad opened through Freetown in 1845. Two stations on the line in Freetown were open until the 1930s. Freetown was announced as a potential South Coast Rail station in 2009. The planned station site was relocated slightly to the northeast in 2018. A construction contract was issued in 2020, and the station was substantially completed in December 2022.

Station design

Freetown station will be located in the southwestern part of the Assonet village in Freetown between the South Main Street and the Route Massachusetts Route 24/79 expressway. It will have a single 800-foot (240 m)-long high-level side platform on the west side of the single main track of the Fall River Secondary. A freight passing siding will be located on the east side of the main track. A 107-space park and ride lot with a kiss-and-ride lane will be located next to the platform, with a driveway to South Main Street. A canopy will cover the portion of the platform adjacent to the entrance from the parking lot, with smaller canopies near the ends of the platform.[1]: 45 [2]

History

Previous stations
A black-and-white postcard of a one-story wooden railway station
A postcard of Assonet station

The Fall River Railroad opened from Fall River to Myricks on June 9, 1845; it was completed to South Braintree in December 1846.[3][4] Two stations were located on the line in Freetown: Assonet at Elm Street, and Crystal Spring (Thwaites) at Copicut Road.[5] Somerset Junction (Millers), the junction with the 1866-opened Dighton and Somerset Railroad, was located further to the south in northern Fall River near the Freetown border.[3][6] Service was consolidated in 1854 under the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad (later the Old Colony Railroad); the Old Colony was leased to the New Haven Railroad in 1893.[3]

Passenger service on the line continued until September 5, 1958, except for a discontinuance from 1949 to 1952.[7] However, most local stops including Assonet, Crystal Spring, and Somerset Junction were discontinued by the 1930s; by the end of service, trains ran nonstop from Fall River to Taunton.[8][9] The line continued to be used for freight service by the New Haven and its successors Penn Central and Conrail, then finally as the CSX Fall River Subdivision.[3]

South Coast Rail
A segment of track on a cleared right-of-way
Construction of the new passing siding in April 2021

In September 2008, MassDOT released 18 potential station sites for the South Coast Rail project, including a Freetown station off South Main Street near the Route 24/79 expressway.[10] A 2009 conceptual design called for a single side platform serving one track, with a second track allowing freight trains to pass the high-level platform.[11] The station was planned to be the anchor of Assonet Village, a new mixed-use transit-oriented development village.[12] Station plans released as part of the Final Environmental Impact Report in 2013 were nearly identical to the 2009 plans.[13] On June 11, 2010, the state took ownership of the Fall River Subdivision (renamed the Fall River Secondary) and several other CSX lines as part of a sale agreement.[14]

In 2017, the project was re-evaluated due to cost issues. A new proposal released in March 2017 called for early service via Middleborough by 2024, followed by full service via Stoughton by 2029.[15] Freetown would have only been built as an infill station during the second phase.[16] By mid-2017, plans called for the first phase to be completed in 2022, and to include stations at Freetown and Battleship Cove in Phase 1 rather than Phase 2.[17] The January 2018 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report moved the planned station about 0.2 miles (0.32 km) northeast, as the previously planned site had been developed for use by a business.[1]: 44 

The MBTA awarded a $159 million contract for construction of the Fall River Secondary portion of the project, including Freetown station, in May 2020. Service was then planned to begin in November 2023.[18][19] The station was 27% complete by February 2022, with 82% of platform foundations complete.[20] Substantial completion of the Fall River Secondary work was announced at an event at Freetown station in December 2022.[21] Opening was delayed to mid-2024 in September 2023.[22]

References
  1. VHB/HNTB (January 31, 2018). "Chapter 2 – Alternatives Analysis". South Coast Rail Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report. Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
  2. "South Coast Rail Project Phase 1 - Freetown Meeting". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. October 25, 2018. p. 13.
  3. Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. pp. 401–405. ISBN 9780942147124.
  4. "Fall River Railroad". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 5, 1845. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Town of Freetown". New Topological Atlas of Surveys, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Everts & Richards. 1895. pp. 148–149 – via Ward Maps.
  6. "City of Fall River". New Topological Atlas of Surveys, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Everts & Richards. 1895. pp. 48–49 – via Ward Maps.
  7. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 34–36. ISBN 9780685412947.
  8. "Table 31". Form 200. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. September 26, 1937. p. 28.
  9. "Table 19: Boston-New Bedford-Fall River". The Scenic Shoreline Route Serving New York and New England. New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. April 24, 1955. p. 31 – via Wikimedia Commons.
  10. "South Coast Rail Fact Sheet: October 2008" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 12, 2017.
  11. "Freetown - Freetown Rail Alternative" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 30, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 21, 2012.
  12. South Coast Rail Economic Development and Land Use Corridor Plan (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. June 2009. p. 79. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2013.
  13. "Figure 3.2-27 Freetown Depot Station Conceptual Station Design" (PDF). Volume II: FEIS/FEIR Figures Final Environmental Impact Statement/Final Environmental Impact Report on the South Coast Rail Project proposed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District. August 2013.
  14. "The Massachusetts Rail Program" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 2010. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2012.
  15. Dungca, Nicole (March 22, 2017). "State changes gears on Middleborough commuter rail plan". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017.
  16. "Notice of Project Change". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. March 15, 2017. p. 5.
  17. "South Coast Rail Corridor Map" (PDF). South Coast Rail - Summer 2017 Fact Sheet. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Summer 2017. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 5, 2017.
  18. "South Coast Rail Main Line Construction Contract Approved" (Press release). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. May 11, 2020.
  19. Tabakin, Jennifer (May 11, 2020). "MBTA Construction Contract No. K78CN03: Fall River Secondary Commuter Rail Expansion Project" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  20. "South Coast Rail Briefing for MBTA Board of Directors" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 24, 2022. p. 6.
  21. "Baker-Polito Administration Celebrates Substantial Completion of $159 Million Contract for South Coast Rail Main Line Construction" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. December 8, 2022.
  22. Medeiros, Dan (September 29, 2023). "South Coast Rail passenger service is being delayed. Here's why, explained in 60 seconds". The Herald News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023.

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