Town Manager 'Shocked' By Mansfield-South Coast Rail Proposal

MANSFIELD, MA — Town Manager Kevin Dumas said at a recent selectmen meeting that he was shocked when he read a column in Commonwealth Magazine that calls for the South Coast Rail to be linked to Mansfield.

In a July 21 column for the online magazine, Ari Ofsevit wrote that the train line from Fall River and New Bedford shouldn't use the Stoughton Route, the original preferred alternative or the Middleboro Route, the current MassDOT preferred alternative, but an existing right-of-way from Taunton to Mansfield for a 51-minute trip from the South Coast.

"The Mansfield alternative is, by any measure, the best approach to providing rail service to and from the South Coast," Ofsevit wrote.

But as Town Manager Kevin Dumas noted, that plan would mean removing the town bike patch and a sewer interceptor which is part of a regional wastewater district with Foxborough and Norton.

"For something that was so detailed I find it ironic that they never contacted the town planner, town manager's office or (selectmen's) office to discuss an issue that would raze a very large portion of the downtown to reestablish the Old Colony Rail route," Dumas said.

Selectmen Chairman Michael Trowbridge said the town recently received a state grant to improve the area which would be used for the train.

"Commonwealth Magazine usually does some pretty educated columns, I was very surprised by this article as I am sure you were," Dumas said. "That is not something that's an option for us."

Mansfield residents will be relieved to know that there are no plans to link Mansfield to the South Coast Rail Line. Between the Commuter Rail and Amtrak, there is little space for extra trains to be added to the line.

Image Credit: Dan Libon/Patch