The New Old Colony Railroad
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Commuter Rail Returns to the South Shore
 | | Map showing the routes of the new Old Colony Line. |
On Monday September 29, 1997, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority began the first scheduled rail passenger service to Boston's South Shore in roughly forty years. Two of the three Old Colony lines were re-opened in 1997: the line to Kingston/Plymouth and the line to Middleborough. (If you are looking for train schedule information, please click HERE.) The map at right shows the routes for each of these lines along with their station stops. The Greenbush line to Scituate opened for service on 30 October 2007.
To celebrate the re-opening of the line to Kingston in 1997, I recorded the arrival of the first passenger trains in almost a half a century. The photographs which follow provide a good picture of the new Old Colony Railroad on its first day of business. If you have any stories or information regarding the Old Colony Railroad, please visit my Feedback Page to send me an e-mail.
For those interested in acquiring more information on the history of the Old Colony Railroad, HERE is an unusually good website.
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Summer Street Station in Kingston Center
 |  | | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking west, circa 1972. | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking east, circa 1972. |
 |  | | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking west, September 29, 1997. | Close-up of Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking east, September 29, 1997. |
 |  | | Summer Street Station in Kingston, looking east, September 29, 1997. | Looking east across Route 3-A towards Summer Street Station in Kingston, September 29, 1997. |
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Train 033 in Kingston Center
 |  | | Downtown Kingston at the level crossing, looking north on Route 3-A, September 29, 1997. | The parking lot fills with cars as people arrive to see the first arriving passenger train in Kingston in almost half a century. |
 |  | | Police are stationed at all of the level crossings to minimize the risk of accident. | Train number 033 from South Station approaches the crossing in Kingston Center, approximately five minutes late. |
 |  | | Train number 033 crossing Route 3-A in Kingston Center. | Train number 033 passing Summer Street Station en route to the new Kingston station. |
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| Watch a 25 second video (with sound) of train 033 crossing Route 3-A for the first time on September 29, 1997 by clicking here.
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Train 035 Arrives at the new Kingston Station
 |  | | The new Kingston Station, looking east. | Further down the platform at the new Kingston Station, looking east. |
 |  | | A very full parking lot at the new Kingston Station on the first day of passenger service. | Train number 035 approaching the new Kingston station. |
 |  | | Close-up of train number 035 approaching the new Kingston station. | Commuters jam the road leaving the new Kingston station after the arrival of train number 035. |
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Train 037 Crossing the Bridge over Landing Road
 |  | | Train number 037 approaching the bridge over Landing Road. | Close-up of train number 037 approaching the bridge over Landing Road. |
 |  | | Train number 037 heading east after crossing the bridge over Landing Road. | Train number 037 turning off the mainline to the new Kingston station. |
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