Old Colony Railroad

Railroads in Middleborough and Taunton as originally built. The Fall River Railroad is red, the Cape Cod Railroad blue, the Middleborough & Taunton Branch lime green, and the Plymouth & Middleborough Railroad orange.

The Fall River Railroad opened between South Braintree and Fall River in stages from June 1845 to December 1846.^{[2][3]: 403} The section between Myricks and Middleborough opened in mid-1846.^[4] The last portion to open was that between North Bridgewater and Middleborough on December 21, 1846.^[5][6]

The connecting Cape Cod Branch Railroad opened from Middleborough to Sandwich in May 1847, and to Hyannis in 1854 as the Cape Cod Railroad.^{[7][3]: 411} The Fall River Railroad merged with the Old Colony Railroad in 1854 to become the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad; it was renamed as the Old Colony and Newport Railroad in 1863 and the Old Colony Railroad again in 1872.^[3]: 376 The Cape Cod Railroad was acquired by the Old Colony in 1872, serving as its Cape Main Line.^[3]: 408

The Middleborough and Taunton Railroad opened from Middleborough to south of Taunton on the New Bedford and Taunton Railroad in 1856; it was acquired by the Old Colony in 1874.^[3]: 398 By 1885, schedules on the Old Colony were arranged to allow commuting from Middleborough.^[2] Two other stations were located in Middleborough on the Cape Main Line south of downtown: Rock (also known as Rock Meeting House) at Miller Street in Rock Village, and South Middleboro at Spruce Street.^[8]

The Old Colony began work on a new station in November 1885.^[9] It was completed in 1887. The Tudor-style station (similar to the still-extant Kingston station) was located at Station Street, replacing the original Fall River Railroad station on the same site.^[10][7][11]

The Plymouth and Middleborough Railroad opened between its namesake cities in 1892 and was immediately leased to the Old Colony. The next year, the Old Colony was acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.^[3]: 406 Middleborough served as a rail hub for southeastern Massachusetts, with lines in five directions. Facilities at Middleborough included a freight house, a freight yard, and a roundhouse.^[10]

20th century

A 1911 postcard of the station

Grade crossings were eliminated in downtown Middleborough in 1900.^[12][13] Centre Street and Grove Street were placed on bridges over the tracks, while South Main Street was depressed under the tracks.^[14]

Passenger service on the lightly-used branch to Plymouth was discontinued in 1927; this also ended local service between Taunton and Middleborough, which had operated as a Plymouth–Middleborough–Taunton service (sometimes through-routed to Providence).^[15][16][17] Freight service on the Plymouth–Middleborough line, largely used by cranberry growers near the line, ended in 1939.^[3]: 407 Passenger service on the Middleborough–Myricks section of the original Fall River line ended in 1931; freight service ended in 1932, and the line was abandoned in 1937.^[3]: 401 Rock and South Middleboro stations were closed on July 17, 1938, as part of the 88 stations case, a massive and controversial station closure.^[18][19]

Middleborough was a stop for New York–Cape Cod trains (with a short backup move to reach the station) until 1938, after which the trains ran express between Taunton and Wareham.^[20][21] This year-round Cape Codder service ran until 1958, then only during summers from 1960 to 1964.^[22] Commuter service to Boston (with Middleborough the outer terminus for some trains) ran until June 30, 1959, when the New Haven ceased all passenger service on the Old Colony Division.^[2] The bridge over the Neponset River burned soon afterwards, preventing any further service from Boston to the Cape stopping at Middleborough; a Boston–Hyannis train via Stoughton ran during the summer of 1961.^[22][2]

The lines north, west, and southeast from Middleborough remained in use for freight service: by the New Haven until 1969, Penn Central to 1971, Conrail to 1997, and CSX since. Freight service southeast from Middleborough was taken over by the Bay Colony Railroad shortline in 1982 and the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad in 2007, interchanging with CSX at Middleborough Yard.^[3]: 413

MBTA era

The former freight house in 2017

Restoration of passenger service was proposed intermittently through the 1960s and 1970s. On October 15, 1979, a special train ran from Braintree to Middleborough to publicize the state's plans for restored service.^[23] A 1974 state analysis of restoring commuter rail service indicated that the Middleborough station could be reused.^[24] From 1984 to 1988, Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad seasonal commuter and excursion service stopped in Middleborough at the former station.^[25][26] From 1986 to 1996, Amtrak's Cape Codder ran through Middleborough, but like the 1960s trains it did not stop there due to the station location. The former station was demolished in the 1990s.^[10] The 1887-built freight house was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Middleborough Center Historic District in 2000; it was proposed for restoration in 2011.^[11][27] It was destroyed by fire in October 2020.^{[28][lower-alpha 1]}

In 1984, a state-directed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) study found that restoration of commuter rail service would be feasible.^[29] A Draft Environmental Impact Statement was released in May 1990, followed by a Final Environmental Impact Statement in 1992. Both called for a Middleborough/Lakeville station off Route 105 south of Middleborough on the Lakeville border, rather than reusing the old station site.^[30][31] MBTA Commuter Rail Middleborough/Lakeville Line service to Middleborough/Lakeville station began on September 29, 1997; a layover facility was located just west of the wye on the Middleboro Secondary.^[22]

South Coast Rail

Planning in the 1980s for the South Coast Rail project – restoration of passenger service to Fall River and New Bedford – considered routes via Middleborough, Stoughton, and Attleboro. The Stoughton route was the preferred alternative until the project was cancelled in 2003.^[32][33] Planning restarted in 2005; in September 2008, MassDOT released 18 potential station sites, including a "village-style" station in downtown Middleborough.^[34] By 2009, the Stoughton route was again the preferred alternative.^[33]

Station construction in December 2021

In 2017, the project was re-evaluated due to cost issues. The new proposal called for early service via Middleborough by 2022, followed by full service via Stoughton by 2030. A new Middleborough station was to replace the existing Middleborough/Lakeville station, which could not be served by South Coast Rail trains.^[35] Middleborough and Lakeville officials were critical of the possibility of abandoning the existing Middleborough/Lakeville station - which had attracted transit-oriented development - or requiring its riders to take a shuttle train, as well as possible traffic issues from a downtown Middleborough station.^[36]

The January 2018 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report considered three potential operational patterns: a reverse move to serve the existing station, shuttle service from the existing station to Bridgewater station, or a new Middleborough station with a bus shuttle from the existing station. The last option was preferred because it had a shorter travel time than the reverse move, and would not require new double track as the Bridgewater shuttle would.^[1]: 17 Two possible Middleborough station sites were considered – the former downtown station site, and the wye (Pilgrim Junction) between the Middleborough Main Line and Middleboro Secondary – with the latter preferred for lower costs and less traffic impact.^[1]: 40 The CapeFLYER will continue to use Middleborough/Lakeville station, as the new station will not have a platform on the Middleborough Main Line. However, the station includes space for a future platform to serve shuttle trains to Cape Cod.^[1]: 37

Buildings at 161 South Main Street and 52 West Grove Street were demolished in 2020 to make room for the station and its parking lot.^[37] The MBTA awarded a $403.5 million contract for the Middleboro Secondary and New Bedford Secondary portions of the project, including Middleborough station, on August 24, 2020. The planned 37 months of construction began later in 2020, with a late 2023 opening expected.^[38] The station was 33% complete by February 2022, with all platform foundations in place.^[39] The platform and the canopy steelwork were in place by November 2022.^[40] Opening was delayed to mid-2024 in September 2023; at that point, the station was 98% complete and expected to be finished by the end of 2023.^[41][42]

Possible service to Cape Cod

The Middleborough station includes space for a potential future platform to serve shuttle trains to Cape Cod.^[1]: 37 In fall 2020, the MBTA began conducting a study to evaluate the feasibility of implementing Buzzards Bay commuter rail service in conjunction with South Coast Rail.^[43][44] Upon completion of the study in spring 2021, two different alternatives for service were presented, one of which would terminate at Buzzards Bay station and the other of which would terminate at Bourne station. Both service options would normally require passengers to transfer between trains at Middleborough, rather than offering a one-seat ride between Buzzards Bay and Boston, though the study also considered the possibility of one-seat rides to Boston being offered during off-peak hours.^[45]