The
Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) opened between Boston and
Sprague Mansion in 1834, and on to Providence in 1835. A new line between Providence and East Junction via Central Falls, shared with the
Providence and Worcester Railroad south of Central Falls, opened in October 1847. The B&P was leased by the
Old Colony Railroad in 1888; the Old Colony was in turn leased by the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893. At the peak of service around the turn of the century, weekday service included six Boston–Providence local round trips, seven round trips from Taunton and via , 62 Boston– round trips running every 15 minutes, 12 Boston–Dedham round trips via and 24 via , and 11 intercity round trips from beyond Providence. Connections to additional branch line trains were made at , Mansfield, and East Junction.
MBTA era On December 31, 1968, the recently formed
Penn Central bought the failing
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The MBTA bought the section of the Providence–Boston line in Massachusetts, as well as many other lines including the Stoughton Branch, from Penn Central on January 27, 1973. On April 1, 1976
Conrail took over Penn Central and the commuter rail equipment was sold to the MBTA. Conrail continued to operate the line under contract to the MBTA until 1977, when the
Boston and Maine Railroad became the sole contractor for all MBTA commuter rail service. Full subsidies by the MBTA for the Providence and Stoughton lines began on September 28, 1976, before which the Federal government helped. On March 31, 1977, the
Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority and Rhode Island Department of Transportation began to subsidize service beyond the MBTA district, and
Stoughton began to pay to keep its station open, that cost later going to the
Brockton Area Transit Authority. On November 3, 1979, the line was closed north of Readville for long-term reconstruction as part of the
Southwest Corridor project. All trains began using what is now the
Fairmount Line, and special shuttle trains connected South Station to Back Bay. The new line, rebuilt below grade with space for three tracks (the old one had been above grade with room for four tracks), opened on October 5, 1987. The Orange Line shares the corridor between Back Bay and Forest Hills. After Rhode Island cut back its subsidy, Sunday service was truncated to Attleboro in October 1977, with off-peak and Saturday service following suit in April 1979. On February 20, 1981, the MBTA stopped serving Rhode Island altogether after that state declined to renew its subsidy.
Rush-hour service to Rhode Island was restored on February 1, 1988. On June 20, 1990, a new stop opened in South Attleboro and most trains were extended to the station; regular Sunday service returned in 1992. Some off-peak weekday trains were extended to Providence starting on December 11, 2000.
Extensions Providence Line The South County Commuter Rail initiative, a 20-mile extension past Providence to and in Rhode Island was implemented between 2010 and 2012. The T. F. Green Airport part of the extension opened in December 2010, with Wickford Junction service beginning in April 2012. An infill station at opened on January 23, 2023. Additional studies and proposals to expand Providence Line service have occurred; though none have been funded or pursued. In 2001, prior to the South County extension, the
Rhode Island Department of Transportation considered constructing infill stations in
Cranston and
East Greenwich along with the addition of extending commuter service to existing Amtrak stations in
Kingston and
Westerly. Under this plan, RIDOT proposed the establishment of its own statewide commuter service along the Northeast Corridor that would connect with MBTA service and an extension of
CTrail's Shore Line East. Ultimately, the MBTA would be contracted to operate trains as far as Wickford Junction, with Kingston and Westerly being relegated to only
Northeast Regional service. An extension to Westerly was once again studied by RIDOT in 2017; the study also assessed
electrification and extensions of Shore Line East service to Westerly or Kingston. Ultimately, none of the alternatives moved beyond the preliminary study phase. A passing siding and new platforms at Kingston were completed in 2017, which may enable commuter services in the future.
Stoughton Branch A major extension of the Stoughton Branch has been proposed since the late-1980s as a part of the
South Coast Rail project. In the mid-2010s, South Coast Rail was split into two phases with the Stoughton extension being relegated to Phase 2 of the project due to rising costs. As proposed, Phase 2 would extend the Stoughton Branch south over the abandoned
Dighton and Somerset Railroad through
Easton,
Raynham, and
Taunton before meeting the
Fall River/New Bedford Line at
East Taunton. Currently, the line between Stoughton and Dean Street in Taunton is abandoned; however, the route was
rail-banked for future service, precluding it from overdevelopment. Upon completion, Fall River/New Bedford service would be rerouted via Stoughton instead of . Preliminary plans called for the reconstruction of Canton Center and Stoughton stations; new stations on the extended route would include North Easton,
Easton Village,
Raynham Place, and
Taunton. As of 2025, the development of Phase 2 has stalled since 2019.
Electrification currently operates
diesel locomotives on the electrified
Northeast Corridor Amtrak
electrified the
Northeast Corridor north of
New Haven to Boston as part of the
Northeast High Speed Rail Improvement Program in 2000; however, the MBTA has not utilized this, and continues to operate diesel locomotives under-wire. Electrified commuter service had not been pursued due to costs associated with
traction substation expansion,
electric multiple unit procurement, as well as additional
catenary installation at several station
sidings and layover facilities. By the late 2010s, the MBTA began exploring options to pilot electric trains for Providence service as part of a long-term transition to
regional rail. The MBTA would propose several pilots for electric Providence service during the early 2020s; however, none would come to fruition. In 2019, the MBTA had preliminary discussions with Amtrak about leasing
Siemens ACS-64 electric locomotives to test on the Providence Line. By 2021, the MBTA shifted plans to instead pilot
electric multiple units (EMU) on Providence service in 2024, with the
Fairmount Line and the inner section of the
Newburyport/Rockport Line electrified later in the decade. In June 2022 the MBTA reversed plans and specified that pilot electric service would utilize leased Amtrak locomotives, not EMUs, in 2024; additionally, long-term electrification would utilize
battery-electric multiple units (BEMU) on the Providence/Stoughton Line and
Fairmount Line by 2028–29. By 2024, all plans to pilot electric service on the Providence Line had been indefinitely postponed. In late 2022 RIDOT applied for a $3 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant to study Providence Line electrification; however, the application was rejected by the
FRA in 2023, which precluded the study. In July 2024, the MBTA and
Keolis moved forward with a proposal to procure and operate BEMUs on the Fairmount Line by 2028; however, Providence service was omitted due to increased fleet requirements. Several preliminary projects to enable electric service have been proposed or are underway. A section of non-electrified platform sidings at
Attleboro, not included in the initial Amtrak electrification, was planned for electrification in mid-2022 to support future electric MBTA operations; however, the project was delayed and completed in mid-2024. Electrification of the station siding at
T.F. Green Airport to enable
Northeast Regional service has been subjected to several planning studies. Preliminary plans for Phase 2 of the South Coast Rail project would fully electrify the Stoughton extension and the Phase 1 route.
Special event service In August 1971, the MBTA began operating Boston– and Providence–Foxboro service for events at the new
Foxboro Stadium. Providence service ended early in the
1973 season due to insufficient ridership; Boston service ended that October. Boston service via the Franklin Line resumed in 1986. It was rerouted over the Providence/Stoughton Line in 1989, with intermediate stops at Back Bay, Hyde Park, Route 128, Canton Junction, Sharon, and Mansfield; a reverse move was made at Mansfield to access the
Framingham Secondary. Boston–Foxboro service was again rerouted over the Franklin Line in 1995. Providence–Foxboro event service resumed for the
1997 season, with intermediate stops at South Attleboro, Attleboro, and Mansfield. Event service was extended to T.F. Green Airport in 2012, but cut back to Providence in 2019.
COVID-19 pandemic Substantially reduced schedules were in effect from March 16 to June 23, 2020. Reduced schedules were again put in effect on December 14, 2020. On February 26, 2021,
South Attleboro station was temporarily closed due to structural deterioration. As part of that schedule change, all Providence/Stoughton Line trains began stopping at
Ruggles station after an additional platform there was completed. Additionally, the final Providence-bound train on weekdays began stopping at
Forest Hills station to provide a transfer to a shuttle train to Needham. During the closure of the Orange Line from August 19 to September 18, 2022, additional Providence/Stoughton Line trains stopped at Forest Hills. One of these trains – a midday Providence outbound – continued to stop after September 19. Daily ridership reached 17,648 in October 2022 – 69% of pre-COVID ridership. On October 2, 2023, the last evening Stoughton-bound train began operating via the Fairmount Line – the first such service since 2004. South Attleboro station reopened with limited weekday service – three northbound and four southbound trains – on May 20, 2024. All weekend service and some weekday service began stopping at
Readville station to provide timed transfers with
Franklin/Foxboro Line trains operating over the
Fairmount Line. Daily ridership was 19,068 by 2024. ==Service==