The MBTA said trains will begin carrying passengers from Fall River and New Bedford to Boston on March 24, pending final approval by the Federal Railroad Administration.

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 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.