In New Bedford, All Signs Point to South Coast Rail Coming Soon

Suddenly, this feels real.

If you're like me, you've been hearing about the elusive South Coast Rail for decades.

Truth be told, I never thought it would really happen. South Coast Rail was the empty promise that Boston politicians would float down Route 24. They'd laugh and laugh at us as they smoked their cigars, slapped each other's backs and drank brandy in back rooms at the State House. They'd tease us, making us buy into the idea that a Boston commuter train would really come to New Bedford and Fall River.

"What would come first?" they'd ask. "SouthCoast Rail? Or the casino?"

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Then, they'd spit out their drinks with laughter. We were the punchline. The answer to that question was always neither.

This is different. There was something about seeing those New Bedford MBTA signs hanging on the trains' schedule board at the far end of the Whale's Tooth parking lot Monday night. Beyond the ongoing construction of the pedestrian bridge, beyond the staging areas for the train station, the signs are a point of no return.

READ MORE: New Bedford Had Commuter Rail Service to Boston Once Before

The New Bedford MBTA signs are the invitations getting mailed out for the wedding.  There's no turning back now. It's official. They can't back out. If an unforeseen problem rears its head, they've just got to fix it because now we have signs. It's hard to believe, but we're just a few months away from passengers riding this thing up to South Station in Boston.

We used to be Boston's oddball cousins to the south, but seeing those purple MBTA New Bedford signs gave me a sense of pride. It was as if New Bedford had arrived.  We are now tied to the big city. We matter.

Test trains have been running along the South Coast Rail lines to ensure the new signal systems work, and the trains are running up to 80 miles per hour.  According to South Coast Rail, the safety testing this spring is following federal regulations.

If all goes according to plan, the first commuters will board for Boston by this summer.

Suddenly, this feels real.