Old Colony Railroad The
Fall River Railroad opened between
South Braintree and
Fall River in stages from June 1845 to December 1846. The section between
Myricks and Middleborough opened in mid-1846. The last portion to open was that between
North Bridgewater and Middleborough on December 21, 1846. The connecting
Cape Cod Branch Railroad opened from Middleborough to Sandwich in May 1847, and to in 1854 as the Cape Cod Railroad. The Old Colony began work on a new station in November 1885. 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. The Old Colony Railroad was an early proponent of decorating the grounds of its train stations. By 1891, Middleborough had a "large, rolling, picturesque lawn" and "thousands of bedding plants" surrounding the station. 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. Centre Street and
Grove Street were placed on bridges over the tracks, while
South Main Street was depressed under the tracks. 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). Freight service on the Plymouth–Middleborough line, largely used by cranberry growers near the line, ended in 1939. 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 and
Wareham. This year-round
Cape Codder service ran until 1958, then only during summers from 1960 to 1964. 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. A 1974 state analysis of restoring commuter rail service indicated that the Middleborough station could be reused. From 1984 to 1988,
Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad seasonal commuter and excursion service stopped in Middleborough at the former station. 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. It was destroyed by fire in October 2020. In 1984, a state-directed
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) study found that restoration of commuter rail service would be feasible. 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.
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. Planning restarted in 2005; in September 2008,
MassDOT released 18 potential station sites, including a "village-style" station in downtown Middleborough. By 2009, the Stoughton route was again the preferred alternative. 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. 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. 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. The
CapeFLYER would continue to use Middleborough/Lakeville station, as the new station would not have a platform on the Middleborough Main Line. 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. The station was 33% complete by February 2022, with all platform foundations in place. The platform and the canopy steelwork were in place by November 2022. 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. In June 2024, the opening of the project was delayed to May 2025. Middleborough station was complete by that time. Service began on March 24, 2025. Middleborough station includes space for a potential future platform to serve shuttle trains to Cape Cod. Completed in 2021, the study analyzed two alternatives for service to Buzzards Bay or
Bourne station. Both options would require a transfer at Middleborough, with the possibility of some direct trains at off-peak times. ==References==