NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said Friday he expects trains to begin moving passengers from his city to Boston by the fall.

But he’s not holding his breath.

“My understanding is the fall, whenever that is,” Mitchell said Friday during a taping of WPRI 12’s Newsmakers . “I don’t know if that means Labor Day, or when the leaves start to turn.”

The oft-delayed project was dealt another setback earlier this month when MBTA officials informed attendees at a Fall River community meeting that the summer target for train service would likely not be met.

“The explanation is they have to work out the kinks, which is to say they have constructed just about everything that needs to be constructed,” Mitchell said.

“What I would say is they have to pick a date though and publicly announce it,” he said. “Projects move ahead when there are deadlines.”

When it does get running, the so-called “Phase 1” of South Coast Rail will bring train passengers from New Bedford and Fall River to South Station in Boston by using the existing Middleboro/Lakeville line through East Taunton.

It’s an indirect route, with a one-way trip from New Bedford to Boston taking an estimated 90 minutes.

“To my mind it’s not the end-all be-all,” said Mitchell. “How many people actually ride it consistently, as in a real commute? I don’t know.”

A more straight-line journey, dubbed “Phase 2,” would bring passengers through Stoughton, but cost billions more. Mitchell said it’s unclear to him if that project will ever happen considering the fraught path just to get Phase 1 completed.

But he’s also not overemphasizing the proposed more-direct route, especially if it is at the expense of the region’s other needs.

“My concern is we will go back — whenever that starts to happen — we will go back to the approach to economic development in New Bedford which is ‘let’s just build this direct line to Boston,’ when there is a whole bunch of other things we should be focusing on,” Mitchell said.

“Unless there is some dramatic change in transportation technology that gets people from point A to point B a lot fast than what’s available now, we’re not going to be a bedroom community to Boston,” he said.

Tim White ( twhite@wpri.com ) is Target 12 managing editor and chief investigative reporter and host of Newsmakers for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook .

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