Old Colony Lines (MBTA)

OLD COLONY LINES
A train leaves Campello station on the Middleborough/Lakeville Line
Overview
Type	Commuter rail lines
System	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Status	Operating
Locale	Southeastern Massachusetts
Termini	Boston South Station Middleborough/Lakeville Kingston Plymouth
Stations	6 (Middleborough/Lakeville Line) 7 (Kingston/Plymouth Line) 4 shared
Daily ridership	Kingston/Plymouth Line: 6,560 (2014) Middleborough/Lakeville Line: 7,182 (2014)
Operation
Opened	1997 (reopening)
Owner	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Operator(s)	Keolis North America
Technical
Line length	Middleborough/Lakeville Line: 35.6 miles (57.3 km) Kingston/Plymouth Line: 35.1 miles (56.5 km) (Kingston); 35.6 miles (57.3 km) (Plymouth)
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Red Line mi mi   Framingham/Worcester, 0.0 South Station Needham, Franklin, and Providence/Stoughton Lines Fairmount Line Track 61 2.3 JFK/UMass 7.9 Quincy Center Greenbush Line 10.9 Braintree Holbrook/Randolph 15.0 15.8 South Weymouth Montello 18.6 19.4 Abington Brockton 20.0 21.2 Whitman Campello 21.9 24.4 Hanson Bridgewater 27.7 28.1 Halifax Middleboro Yard Middleboro Secondary 35.1 Kingston/Route 3 Kingston Yard Middleborough / Lakeville 35.6 35.6 Plymouth (limited service) (planned) Buzzards Bay 54 CapeFLYER This diagram:

Kingston/Plymouth Line: 6,560 (2014)

The Old Colony Lines are branches of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, connecting downtown Boston, Massachusetts with the South Shore and cranberry-farming country to the south and southeast. The Middleborough/Lakeville Line winds south through Holbrook, Brockton, Bridgewater, Middleborough, and Lakeville, and the Kingston/Plymouth Line heads southeast from Braintree, roughly following Route 3, toward Weymouth, Abington, Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, Kingston, and Plymouth. The Greenbush Line, part of the original Old Colony system but restored separately, heads east from north of Braintree station towards Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate. In fiscal year 2013, the Middleborough/Lakeville line averaged 7,182 and the Kingston/Plymouth Line 6,560 one-way riders per weekday, for a combined daily ridership of 13,742 - a substantial decrease from daily averages exceeding 19,000 several years before.

Historically, train service extended beyond the current terminus of the three branches. Greenbush service continued on a now-abandoned right-of-way to Kingston, where it joined the Plymouth line. The Plymouth line extended into downtown Plymouth, and a branch connected to Middleborough through Carver. Trains continued southeast from Middleboro to four different termini on Cape Cod: Woods Hole, Hyannis, Chatham, and Provincetown. Another major branch continued southwest to New Bedford, and another to Newport via Fall River.