Details Emerge on SouthCoast Rail Plan
There are now more details on the MassDOT's plan to create a SouthCoast Rail plan, but more questions remain as well.
According to State House News Service, MassDOT wants to go with the diesel-based Middleboro route as "Phase One" of the project because it can be completed faster and cost about a third as much as building the $3.3 billion Stoughton electric line.
Although "Phase Two" would be the creation of that Stoughton line, which would be a more direct route to the SouthCoast, going through Middleboro could also be completed by 2024, which is about four years sooner than any Stoughton line could be constructed.
However, questions still remain about where to build an East Taunton station, how to get passengers to the station from Taunton Center, and what will happen with the current Lakeville station, which is south of where the Middleboro line will veer off to reach the "Southern Triangle" of New Bedford and Fall River.