Last modified: Sunday, August 5, 2007 11:57 PM EDT Governor renews plan to run commuter rail to South Coast, via Attleboro BY TED NESI SUN CHRONICLE STAFF The money to study sending a proposed $1.4 billion South Coast commuter rail line through Attleboro, Norton, and Taunton will be included in the $12 billion spending plan Gov. Deval Patrick is set to unveil today, local lawmakers said Sunday as they reiterated their staunch opposition to such a plan. The Associated Press reported Sunday that an initial investment on a rail link from Boston to New Bedford is included in the $12 billion borrowing plan. Officials in both New Bedford and Fall River have spent two decades arguing for a rail link to their region. State Rep. John Lepper, R-Attleboro, said that although he has not yet seen a detailed version of Patrick's proposal, the money will fund another environmental impact study of the three possible routes for the proposed rail line. "It raises concerns, because we've been through this," said Lepper, who has long argued against running such a train through the Attleboro area. State officials say their preferred option is still to run the new line through Raynham, Easton and Stoughton. "We're confident that the Stoughton alternative is the best route and will result in the highest ridership," a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Transportation said in May. But officials in those towns are strongly opposed to the idea, because of environmental concerns about the Hockomock Swamp. The other two options that have been floated would take the New Bedford trains through either Middleboro, or Attleboro, Norton and Taunton. The latter option would send the trains across a number of local roads, snarling traffic with grade crossings. "Attleboro and Middleboro are non-starters for routes," state Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, said flatly. He is opposed to the entire idea of a South Coast rail line at this time due to the projected cost. The Attleboro and Middleboro options have been explored and rejected by the state before, most recently in 2002, but that review is set to expire - although Lepper said Patrick could have renewed the 2002 permit rather than starting another environmental impact study from scratch. State Rep. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro, questioned why the state would embark on a major new infrastructure project when $15 billion to $19 billion worth of maintenance repairs is already needed statewide. "I think we should maintain and invest in what we already have established," she said. Timilty echoed Poirier. "It doesn't make any sense to me," he said, noting that the MBTA is already struggling under an enormous amount of debt. Lepper emphasized that he is not opposed to the idea of train service from Boston to New Bedford, though he said the state needs to ensure such a project is worth a $1.4 billion investment. An 18-month study of a South Coast rail line's economic impact is currently being conducted. But, Lepper said, the proposed Attleboro-Norton-Taunton route won't fly. "It would cut the city of Taunton in half," he said. "It's just an impossible thing." Patrick has promised that a rail line will link Boston to the South Coast by 2016. In May, his administration hired a project manager for the initiative, Kristina Egan. Lepper said he will meet with Egan later this weeks to lay out his concerns.