Massachusetts first responders ready for emergencies on South Coast Rail thanks to new vehicles, equipment

FREETOWN, MASS., NOV. 25, 2024…..Flanked by the fire chiefs from seven nearby communities, state officials on Monday celebrated the arrival of $900,000 worth of equipment they hope will never be put into use.

Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues and Transportation Committee co-chair Rep. William Straus gathered in what will serve beginning next year as the parking lot of Freetown’s MBTA Commuter Rail station to highlight equipment designed to help fire departments along the South Coast Rail corridor respond to emergency train-related incidents once passenger service starts next spring.

“We know that north of here, through Freetown and Lakeville and Taunton, that lots of woods are in the middle of nowhere, and if, God forbid, anything should happen along that route, we needed to ensure that our first responders did have the tools to get there and to do what they do so great and respond to emergencies,” Rodrigues said.

The long-awaited MBTA commuter rail expansion to the South Coast is expected to begin service in May, returning passenger rail service to Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford for the first time since 1958. MassDOT said in a recent presentation to state bondbuyers that  “construction is substantially complete with all six stations and both layover facilities having received certificates of occupancy.”

Once complete, the $1.1 billion project’s first phase will offer commuter rail service linking Boston to New Bedford, Fall River and other nearby communities. State officials say Taunton, Fall River and New Bedford are the only major cities within 50 miles of Boston that lack commuter rail access to the state’s capital.

The equipment — including four utility task vehicles, at least one with an attached rescue wagon — was purchased with $900,000 that Straus added to a 2022 transportation bond bill as an amendment, which Rodrigues supported and expanded. Straus said the purchase, “like many really good projects,” started with “a local idea” and a meeting he had two and a half years ago with New Bedford Fire Chief Scott Kruger and Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts Secretary-Treasurer Billy Cabral.

Kruger told Straus that Bristol County fire chiefs were “happy and supportive of the extension of commuter rail to this part of the state,” but were concerned that they did not have the appropriate apparatus for responding to train-related emergencies, especially in rural areas away from road access.

When the House amendment for $900,000 for Bristol County fire departments reached the Senate, Rodrigues got a call from Lakeville Fire Chief Michael O’Brien, whose town is in Plymouth County but hosts a short stretch of South Coast Rail track.

“I got a call from Chief O’Brien saying, ‘Senator, Lakeville is not represented in that piece of legislation.’ And I said, ‘Oh, you’re right, but it will be.’ And it is, because this rail line does not just run through Bristol County, but also goes into Plymouth County through Lakeville as it heads north.”

O’Brien and Kruger were on hand in Freetown on Monday, as were chiefs from Fall River, Freetown, Taunton, Berkley and the Bristol County Technical Rescue team.

“The concept is simple: each Fire department along the South Coast Rail corridor now has the equipment and vehicles to provide a high-quality response to train-related emergencies,” Kruger said Monday morning. “It is very likely that a rail emergency could impact the residents of all of our communities, and through mutual aid our fire departments will respond wherever we are needed.”

Straus said Tibbits-Nutt was especially helpful in getting the $900,000 that the Legislature and governor authorized out the door quickly, with the goal of having the needed equipment on hand before South Coast Rail service starts in the spring.

“Her words were simple, eloquent, welcomed and helpful: ‘I’ve got you covered,'” the chairman said was Tibbits-Nutt’s response to his outreach. “And within a short amount of time, that money was released.”

The secretary framed South Coast Rail as part of the administration’s interest in regional equity, and said she likes seeing the state expand transit services to a new region. She surveyed the new vehicles and equipment stacked up Monday morning to be distributed among the departments.

“I was talking to the chief beforehand, I was like, ‘wow, we only gave you $900,000. Did you get a coupon, a discount of some sort?’ Because this is amazing. It really is,” Tibbits-Nutt said. “I hope we never need to use this equipment. But not only do we want to make sure that equipment is available for our rail service, but these are the teams that when we call for help — whether we have a roadway accident, whether we’re having to deal with inclement weather — they show up and they show up quickly, and they’re always there to help.”