page_title: Old Colony Lines
section_title: 1971–present: Restoration of service
hierarchical_section_title: Old Colony Lines / History / 1971–present: Restoration of service
caption_attribution_description: English: Outbound train, South Weymouth MBTA station, Weymouth Massachusetts
context_page_description: The Old Colony Lines are a pair of branches of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, connecting downtown Boston, Massachusetts with the South Shore and cranberry-farming country to the south and southeast. The two branches operate concurrently for 10 miles via the Old Colony Mainline from South Station to Braintree station. The Middleborough/Lakeville Line then winds south through Holbrook, Brockton, Bridgewater, Middleborough, and Lakeville via the Middleborough Main Line and Cape Main Line. The Kingston/Plymouth Line heads southeast to serve Weymouth, Abington, Whitman, Hanson, Halifax, Kingston, and Plymouth by way of the Plymouth Branch.
  In fiscal year 2013, the Middleborough/Lakeville line averaged 7,182 and the Kingston/Plymouth Line 6,560 one-way riders per weekday, for a combined daily ridership of 13,742 – a substantial decrease from daily averages exceeding 19,000 several years before.
context_section_description: As congestion and pollution became issues on the expressway, projects were undertaken to revive service on these railways.  In 1971, the South Shore Branch of the Red Line opened to Quincy Center, and, in 1980, it was extended to Braintree.  The line, with state-of-the-art park-and-ride stations, proved an instant success, lending strength to proposals to restore commuter rail service to the Old Colony lines via Braintree.  The Cape Cod and Hyannis Railroad ran passenger service from Cape Cod to Braintree (and briefly to Attleboro) in the 1980s, but failed when its state subsidy was ended amid budget cuts.
caption: A train at South Weymouth station on the Plymouth/Kingston Line in 2013
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