The long-awaited South Coast Rail service — which will connect Fall River, Freetown, New Bedford, Middleboro and Taunton to Boston — is slated to begin this spring.

The MBTA announced South Coast Rail passenger service will start March 24, connecting New Bedford and Fall River to Boston with weekday trains every 70 minutes.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will launch South Coast Rail operations — serving a group of southeastern Massachusetts communities that have been without passenger rail for 65 years — on March 24,

The South Coast Rail, a project aimed at delivering commuter rail service between southeastern Massachusetts and Boston, is coming earlier than expected, according to media reports. The project was originally slated to begin in May,