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Plymouth station is a closed
A previous station was located at Boundary Lane on the Plymouth/Kingston border, just north of the current site. Built as North Plymouth in 1873, it was renamed to Seaside around 1880 and Cordage in January 1925. The station closed with the rest of the Old Colony Division passenger rail service in southeastern Massachusetts on June 30, 1959.
Because Plymouth did not want trains running through upscale residential areas near the downtown area, Plymouth station is located in Cordage Park, a commercial and light industrial park in North Plymouth. The rest of the Plymouth/Kingston Line and the Middleborough/Lakeville Line opened for rush hour service on September 29, 1997. Plymouth, with no rush hour trains, did not open until midday and weekend service began on November 29, 1997. The station was closed from November 3 to December 23, 2010, during tie replacement on the line.
Due to a FY 2013 budget shortfall and claims of low ridership by the MBTA, weekend service to the South Shore
(and two other lines) was discontinued in July 2012. MassDOT and the MBTA subsequently received substantial feedback from rail commuters and legislative representatives to reinstate weekend service to those lines. In 2014, funding was reallocated to the FY 2015 state budget (for a trial period) and weekend service resumed on the (formerly) suspended lines on December 27, 2014. Prior to the return of weekend service on the Kingston/Plymouth Line, the MBTA held special weekend service to Plymouth for 2 weekends leading up to the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday. The two trains per day were intended only for tourists going to Plymouth; they did not run on schedules allowing day trips to Boston.
The fork at the end of the line creates operational issues - a single train cannot serve both terminal stations efficiently. Three daily trips ran to both Kingston and Plymouth sequentially, which doubles travel time from Kingston to Boston during much of the day (Kingston is first on all weekday and one weekend trip). Between Kingston and Plymouth, the train is simultaneously acting as an inbound train (from the first station to Boston) and an outbound train (from Boston to the second station). Keolis and the MBTA planned to address the unusual routing during schedule changes in late 2015, but did not do so.
The station was indefinitely closed in April 2021 along with four other low-ridership stations. In June 2021, the MBTA indicated that the station would reopen on July 5, 2022 (the start of a new fiscal year). However, due to budget cuts, this service restoration did not occur as planned, with no certain date for resumption of service announced by that time.
MBTA - Plymouth
Plymouth, Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1997
MBTA Commuter Rail
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 statio ...
station in Plymouth, Massachusetts
Plymouth (; historically known as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore, and culture, and is known as ...
. It served the Plymouth/Kingston Line and was located in the Cordage Park complex of North Plymouth. Plymouth was one terminus of the MBTA's Kingston/Plymouth Line, along with Kingston/Route 3 station
Kingston station (formerly Kingston/Route 3) is an MBTA Commuter Rail serving the Plymouth/Kingston Line, located off of Massachusetts Route 3 south of downtown Kingston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1997 during the restoration of Old Colony Line ...
in nearby Kingston, Massachusetts
Kingston is a coastal town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 13,708 at the 2020 census.
History
Before European settlers arrived, Kingston was within the tribal homeland of the Wampanoag people. Several years ...
. Plymouth station provided non-peak service to Boston's South Station
South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan In ...
, as well as some peak service, which ran in addition to peak trips to Kingston. Most trains on the line served only Kingston station; service to and ridership from Plymouth were thus very limited. Due to this limited ridership and service, as well as due to the fact that trains had to reverse in and out of the station in order to serve it, Plymouth station was indefinitely closed in April 2021.
History
A previous station was located at Boundary Lane on the Plymouth/Kingston border, just north of the current site. Built as North Plymouth in 1873, it was renamed to Seaside around 1880 and Cordage in January 1925. The station closed with the rest of the Old Colony Division passenger rail service in southeastern Massachusetts on June 30, 1959.
Because Plymouth did not want trains running through upscale residential areas near the downtown area, Plymouth station is located in Cordage Park, a commercial and light industrial park in North Plymouth. The rest of the Plymouth/Kingston Line and the Middleborough/Lakeville Line opened for rush hour service on September 29, 1997. Plymouth, with no rush hour trains, did not open until midday and weekend service began on November 29, 1997. The station was closed from November 3 to December 23, 2010, during tie replacement on the line.
Due to a FY 2013 budget shortfall and claims of low ridership by the MBTA, weekend service to the South Shore
(and two other lines) was discontinued in July 2012. MassDOT and the MBTA subsequently received substantial feedback from rail commuters and legislative representatives to reinstate weekend service to those lines. In 2014, funding was reallocated to the FY 2015 state budget (for a trial period) and weekend service resumed on the (formerly) suspended lines on December 27, 2014. Prior to the return of weekend service on the Kingston/Plymouth Line, the MBTA held special weekend service to Plymouth for 2 weekends leading up to the 2014 Thanksgiving holiday. The two trains per day were intended only for tourists going to Plymouth; they did not run on schedules allowing day trips to Boston.
The fork at the end of the line creates operational issues - a single train cannot serve both terminal stations efficiently. Three daily trips ran to both Kingston and Plymouth sequentially, which doubles travel time from Kingston to Boston during much of the day (Kingston is first on all weekday and one weekend trip). Between Kingston and Plymouth, the train is simultaneously acting as an inbound train (from the first station to Boston) and an outbound train (from Boston to the second station). Keolis and the MBTA planned to address the unusual routing during schedule changes in late 2015, but did not do so.
The station was indefinitely closed in April 2021 along with four other low-ridership stations. In June 2021, the MBTA indicated that the station would reopen on July 5, 2022 (the start of a new fiscal year). However, due to budget cuts, this service restoration did not occur as planned, with no certain date for resumption of service announced by that time.
References
External links
{{commons category inlineMBTA - Plymouth
Plymouth, Massachusetts MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Plymouth County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1997