SouthCoast Rail Up for Nearly $150M in State Funding

The SouthCoast Rail project is still alive.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is proposing $148 million in funding for the project over the next five years, with a final vote to be taken next month.

SouthCoast Rail Project Manager Jean Fox tells WBSM's Barry Richard if approved, the funding would continue to build a foundation for commuter rail from Boston to Southeastern Massachusetts. "We will have the Southern Triangle, so Taunton down to the cities of Fall River and New Bedford, at a 30% level of design and we will have begun some of the extensive permitting that is required," says Fox.

Fox says SouthCoast Rail is still a state priority, but understands a bevy of problems with the MBTA has slowed progress. She adds it would not be unreasonable to assume the project won't be complete for at least another ten years.

There is a public comment period over the next month before the State Transportation Board votes on the proposal on May 23.