The
Old Colony Lines are 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
Middleborough/Lakeville Line winds south through
Holbrook,
Brockton,
Bridgewater,
Lakeville and
Middleborough and the
Plymouth/Kingston Line heads southeast from Braintree, roughly following
Route 3 toward
Weymouth,
Abington,
Whitman,
Hanson,
Halifax,
Kingston and
Plymouth. The
Greenbush Line, part of the original Old Colony system but restored separately, heads east from north of Braintree station towards
Hingham,
Cohasset, and
Scituate. In fiscal year 2013, the Middleborough/Lakeville line averaged 7,182 one-way riders per weekday and the Plymouth/Kingston Line 6,560 riders for a combined daily ridership of 13,742 - a substantial decrease from daily averages over 19,000 several years before.