South Coast Rail to offer free parking and weekend rides through April after opening

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) announced that free parking and free weekend rides will be offered through April for the new Fall River/New Bedford Line, which is set to open to the public on March 24.

This opening date is pending final approval from the Federal Railroad Administration.

The new rail will serve six stations; Middleborough, East Taunton, Freetown, Fall River Depot, Church Street and New Bedford, according to the MBTA.

The rail will offer a total of 15 direct trips to and from Fall River and 17 direct trips to and from New Bedford with a total of 32 trips between South Station and East Taunton.

There will be 26 trips between South Station and East Taunton on weekends.

There will also be late night service with South Coast Rail stations offering final trips of the day leaving Boston just before midnight.

Zone 8 pricing will be implemented for these stations, with full fare price costing $12.25 and reduced fair costing $6.

A detailed timetable for South Coast Rail trains will be released next week.