BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will add late-night trains on three South Shore commuter lines this fall, responding to a long-running request from residents who wanted the option to use transit to attend concerts, sporting events, and other evening activities.
The Greenbush, Kingston/Plymouth and Middleboro/Lakeville lines will all add trains leaving Boston at 11:20 p.m. or later, the Quincy Patriot Ledger reports. It quotes MBTA Advisory Board member Richard Prone as saying, “It is something we’ve been fighting for for a very long time.”
The new trains will all operate about an hour later than the latest outbound train on the current schedule. The exact date the new service will begin has yet to be determined. MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said ridership of the new trains would be evaluated after a year.
Went to a Red Sox night game 15 years ago. Afterward, many people walked all the way to North station (the crush of people at the subway station was huge). The late night train to Gloucester was packed.
I well remember the old “Midnight train” which ran in the 1950s from South Station express to Quincy, then on to Braintree and Brockton en route to Middleboro. It consisted of either 2 Budd RDC-1’s, or 3 heavyweight coaches and was always packed full, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. I rode it many times. Now, many years later, I don’t know if these restored trains will have that kind of ridership.
I’ve ridden the midnight train on other MBTA lines and found them well patronized, at least for an off-peak schedule.