Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod.

For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line with express train service from Boston to its wharf in Fall River where passengers boarded luxury liners to New York City.

During this period, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad enjoyed a virtual monopoly on all passenger and freight rail service in southern New England.

The MBTA currently has plans to also restore passenger service to Fall River and New Bedford as part of the South Coast Rail project.

[4] By the early 1840s, the city of Boston had six major rail lines connecting it with other places including Lowell, Maine, Fitchburg, and Salem to the north, Worcester to the west and Providence, Rhode Island to the southwest.

On March 16, 1844, the Old Colony Railroad Corporation was formed to provide a rail connection between Boston and Plymouth.

[5] He built an estate on the east side of Dorchester Avenue called Beechmont/Beaumont which would become one of the first railroad suburbs in America.

The line from South Braintree to Myricks in the town of Berkley opened on December 16, 1846, as an extension of the Fall River Branch Railroad – which had been completed in 1845.

On May 19, 1847, the first "boat train" left the OC's Kneeland Street Station in Boston bound for Fall River, where passengers would board a steamship for New York City.

In 1872, the Old Colony & Newport Railway Corporation built the Shawmut Railroad as a connection between the Dorchester and Milton Branch and the main line to Boston.

At this point, the newly acquired lines became known as the Cape Cod Division, with a new superintendent's office located at Hyannis.

Among the proponents of the Cape Cod Branch Railroad was Richard Borden of Fall River, who saw the new line as an opportunity to bring more traffic and business through his hometown.

In the spring of 1854, construction continued, with the railroad reaching Barnstable village on May 8, Yarmouth Port on May 19, and finally Hyannis on July 8, 1854.

Connecting steamboat service to Nantucket commenced from Hyannis in late September and would continue until 1872, when the railroad branch to Woods Hole was opened.

The newly formed Old Colony Railroad extended the line to Provincetown, at the very tip of Cape Cod, opening on July 23, 1873.

A year later in 1878 it acquired the Duxbury and Cohasset Railroad which gave the Old Colony a connection with its original 1845 main line at Kingston.

This deal also gave the Old Colony Railroad direct access to the important industrial port of New Bedford.

This major agreement gave the Old Colony Railroad operating rights on the busy double-tracked main line between the two capital cities, along with other branches to Dedham and Stoughton.

The New Haven's bankruptcy trustees rejected the Old Colony lease in June 1936, but were forced to continue operating it under court order.

The Supreme Court ruled in November 1939 (Palmer v. Massachusetts) that the railroad had not been given proper permission, and 32 of the stations were reopened in 1940.

[16] The New Haven emerged from bankruptcy on September 11, 1947, and fully acquired the Old Colony a week later; the B&P was kept as a separate New Haven-owned company.

[18]: 862  Losses on the Old Colony reached the critical value in October 1948; after threatening to discontinue all service, the New Haven cut back to a 26-train peak-only schedule on the Boston Group in March 1949.

[16][17]: 13, 96 Under the 1951–1954 presidency of Frederic C. Dumaine Jr., the New Haven increased passenger service, using new Budd Rail Diesel Cars to reduce costs.

Between 1986 and 1996 Amtrak also operated regular passenger service between New York City and Hyannis on Cape Cod during the summer months.

Since 1999, CSX has provided freight service over several portions of the former Old Colony Railroad network, including lines in Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford and Leominster.