Battleship Cove station

Battleship Cove station

Company type	MBTA Commuter Rail station (planned)
Industry	Public transportation
Founded	2030 (planned opening)
Headquarters	Fall River , United States
Area served	Fall River, Massachusetts
Products	Commuter rail service

Battleship Cove is a planned MBTA Commuter Rail stop in Fall River, Massachusetts, intended to serve as the southern endpoint of the Fall River branch within the South Coast Rail initiative. Set to begin operations in 2030 as part of Phase II, this station will function seasonally without providing parking facilities, primarily catering to visitors of Battleship Cove and the nearby Fall River waterfront. Regular commuters will continue using the northern Fall River station. Historically, passenger rail service in Fall River included stations at Fall River Wharf (1847–1937) and Ferry Street (1864–1958), with the Wharf location acting as the terminus for the Fall River Line steamship connection.

Former stations

The Fall River Railroad commenced service between Myricks and Fall River on June 9, 1845, extending its reach to connect with the Old Colony Railroad at South Braintree by December 1846. The original station in Fall River was situated just south of a Central Street tunnel and consisted of a two-story structure measuring . Before the tunnel's completion in September 1845, a temporary depot was utilized. Beginning in October 1847, the Boston–Fall River Boat Train started operations, linking with Fall River Line steamships at Fall River Wharf; this development resulted in the closure of the Central Street station. In 1854, the railroads merged to form the Old Colony and Fall River Railroad. By 1858, the initial station building had been converted into coal storage.

Construction for a southern extension toward Newport, Rhode Island began in 1862, necessitating demolition of the former station. The Newport line opened in November 1863, coinciding with a renaming of the railroad to Old Colony and Newport Railway. Disputes regarding station locations led to two facilities: Ferry Street in the South End and another near Turner Street in the North End; Ferry Street commenced service by mid-1864. Newport acted as the steamship terminal until 1869 when operations reverted to Fall River. The railroad became known as Old Colony Railroad in 1872 and was later acquired by the New Haven Railroad in 1893. A rail yard near Ferry Street featured a new roundhouse constructed in 1927.

Passenger steamship travel between Fall River and New York concluded in 1937; service to Newport ended in 1938. Boston-bound passenger trains continued running via Ferry Street (except between 1949 and 1952) until September 5, 1958. Freight operations remained under New Haven, then Penn Central, Conrail, and eventually CSX on what is now called the Fall River Subdivision. Following state acquisition in 2010, freight services south of Ferry Street were handed over to Massachusetts Coastal Railroad.

Proposed new station

In September 2008, MassDOT identified eighteen possible stations for inclusion in the South Coast Rail project, among them two locations within Fall River: one full-service commuter stop downtown and a seasonal station at Battleship Cove designed to attract tourists. A conceptual design from 2009 proposed a single side platform adjacent to one track with access from City Gates Plaza. The Final Environmental Impact Report released in 2013 modified this plan by relocating the platform approximately southward and incorporating a second track to facilitate freight train movements.

Due to budgetary constraints, a project reassessment occurred in 2017. A March proposal favored initiating early service through Middleborough by 2024 with full operations via Stoughton targeted for 2029; Battleship Cove was scheduled for development during Phase II. By mid-2017, plans had advanced Battleship Cove’s construction into Phase I alongside Freetown station, aiming for completion by 2022. Nevertheless, the January 2018 Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report postponed Battleship Cove back to Phase II.