April 25, 2025 (BOSTON) - Keolis Commuter Services (Keolis), the MBTA’s operations and maintenance partner for the Commuter Rail, will temporarily replace select train trips on the Fall River/New Bedford Line with shuttle bus service on April 26 and 27. The alternative bus service provides reliability for riders in the event there are any crew availability issues over the weekend and enables passengers to plan accordingly.  

Shuttle buses will replace trains for a total of 10 trips per day (5 inbound and 5 outbound) on both Saturday and Sunday. Express buses have been added for this weekend to shorten journey times for passengers traveling between Fall River, New Bedford and South Station and to supplement the local buses serving most stations along the line.  

If additional crews become available, the trips will return to train service and riders will be notified via T-alerts and by customer experience staff positioned at stations. Passengers may follow @ MBTA_CR_Alerts on X for up-to-date information or contact customer service: customerservice@keoliscs.com or (617) 222-3200. 

The MBTA will be extending fare-free weekend service on the Fall River/New Bedford Line through the end of May as a show of gratitude to riders who have been utilizing this new service. 

The full weekend schedule for April 26-27 can be found here and below with scheduled bus trips highlighted in orange. 

Inbound Trains (to South Station) for Bus Replacement with both a local and express option for passengers: 

• Train #6922; 9:37 a.m. from Fall River  

• Train #7028; 1:03 p.m. from New Bedford 

• Train #6930; 2:17 p.m. from Fall River 

• Train #7040; 6:50 p.m. from New Bedford 

• Train #7046; 9:53 p.m. from New Bedford 

Outbound Trains (from South Station) for Bus Replacement with both a local and express option for passengers: 

• Train #7015; 11:00 a.m. to New Bedford 

• Train #6917; 12:10 p.m. to Fall River 

• Train #7029; 4:50 p.m. to New Bedford 

• Train #6979; 6:06 p.m. from East Taunton to Fall River 

• Train #7039; 7:59 p.m. to New Bedford 

Additional details for passengers: 

• Express buses will make no stops between East Taunton Station and South Station.  

• Express buses to/from New Bedford will make the following stops: New Bedford, Church Street, East Taunton and South Station. 

• Express buses from Fall River will make the following stops: Fall River, Freetown, East Taunton and South Station 

• Local buses will connect with the Red Line and Kingston Line service at Braintree Station, then run express to South Station.  

Customer service staff will be available at stations to answer questions and direct passengers throughout the weekend. 
 
With the launch of service to Fall River and New Bedford, Keolis is regularly training and increasing additional qualified crews to support the service on this new line. Crew members, including conductors and engineers, must be qualified in order to operate trains on specific lines. If a crew member calls out sick or misses their shift, it can cause trains to be cancelled if a qualified person cannot be found to replace them. 

Keolis is actively increasing the number of qualified conductors on South Coast Rail territory, above the required 32 positions, with a plan to increase from the current 54 qualified conductors to a planned 65, by early June 2025 in order to increase operational resiliency and reliability for our passengers and the communities served by the Fall River/New Bedford Line. 

Keolis apologizes to our passengers and to all who eagerly anticipated the opening of the Fall River/New Bedford Line last month. We understand the frustrations experienced by passengers over the past two weekends and we are committed to providing the South Coast region with the level of Commuter Rail service they both expected and deserve.

Keolis Commuter Services has operated and maintained the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail system, the sixth largest commuter rail operation in North America, for over ten years. KCS is a subsidiary of Keolis North America (KNA), both headquartered in Boston, and employs approximately 2,500 people throughout the region. KCS and KNA are part of Keolis Group, an innovative global leader in transit services with more than a century of passenger transportation experience and operations in 13 countries.    

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