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|image = Taffy Cafe, Dover MA.jpg |image_width = 300 |caption = The former station building at Dover, as seen in 2014 |type = Commuter rail |system = Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority |status = Abandoned |locale = Southeastern Massachusetts |start = Boston South Station |end = Millis |stations = 14 |routes = |ridership = |open = 1861 (Charles River Branch Railroad) |close = April 1967 |owner = New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |operator = New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad |character = Surface-level |stock = |linelength = 22.1 miles〔 |tracklength = |notrack = |gauge = |el = |speed = |elevation = |map = |map_state=expanded }} The Millis Branch was a branch of what is now the MBTA Commuter Rail system. Branching off the still-operating Needham Line at Needham Junction, it ran through the towns of Dover, Medfield, Millis, and Medway. Due to lack of subsidies and poor ridership, the line was cut back to Millis station in April 1966, and all service ended on April 21, 1967. ==History== The Charles River Branch Railroad was extended from Needham Center to Woonsocket, Rhode Island in stages between 1861 and 1863 under the New York & Boston Railroad, with service operating to Boston via the Highland Branch. Ownership of the line passed through the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, New York and New England Railroad, and finally to the New Haven Railroad as it consolidated southern Massachusetts rail lines under its umbrella. After the Needham Cutoff opened on November 4, 1906, service from Woonsocket and intermediate stops ran over the cutoff rather than via the Highland Branch.〔 With the Franklin Line as the primary Woonsocket route for the New Haven Railroad, the Charles River Branch served as a minor branch line. All service beyond West Medway was cut in 1941. After 1955, service on the line was one single-car round trip to West Medway, which was combined with a longer Needham Heights train at Needham Junction.〔 By the time the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was founded in August 1964 to subsidize suburban commuter rail service, the West Medway line was moribund. Subsidies to the New Haven Railroad for the Needham, West Medway, Dedham, and Franklin lines began on April 24, 1966; out-of-district Medway declined to provide additional funding and the line was cut back to Millis as the ''Millis Branch''. The sole remaining round trips to Millis and Dedham were cut on April 21, 1967, due to extremely poor ridership.〔〔 The former stations at Dover (now a cafe) and Millis (now town offices) are still extant; the other six stations west of Needham Junction have been demolished. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Millis Branch」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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