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Courtesy: Wickford Junction
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March 7th marked the start of the testing phase for the Wickford Junction Station. MBTA #1127 was the first train to roll into the new station and test the brand new tracks!
The station and adjacent shopping plaza, located in North Kingstown RI, have been about 30 years in the making. Bob Cioe and his family bought the land for the shopping plaza in 1982 and had always hoped to see rail travel come back to the area, now they are finally seeing their dreams come true.
Other than the shopping plaza, which boasts a Walmart as it's anchor store, the land is also home to a 1,100 car parking facility that looks more like an 1800's mill building than a parking structure. Don't let it fool you though, the new garage has energy efficient lights, heated and air-conditioned bathrooms, charging stations for electric cars and a coffee shop for commuters!
North Kingstown resident Ryan Salio says she is very excited for the new stop. "Getting to Providence, Warwick, and South Attleboro can be a hassle. It's nice to finally have an option on this side of the state (RI). I will make traveling to Boston exponentially easier."
North Kingstown resident Ryan Salio says she is very excited for the new stop. "Getting to Providence, Warwick, and South Attleboro can be a hassle. It's nice to finally have an option on this side of the state (RI). I will make traveling to Boston exponentially easier."
Construction for station itself broke ground in August of 2010 and was funded partially by the 2005 Transportation Bill, $12,269,449 came from the Transportation and Housing & Urban Development appropriations bill, and the state of Rhode spent $3.2 million to purchase 350,000 square feet of land for the station and parking garage.
The MBTA has 11 stops (Monday - Friday) scheduled for the new Wickford Junction station. There will be five morning trains, two afternoon trains, and four evening trains. The last train to leave the station each night would be at 8:15 p.m and arrive at South Station at 9:55 p.m. Travel time to Providence will be 25 minutes and travel time to Boston will be approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes.
The station will be located in the MBTA fare zone 9 on the Providence/Stoughton line which will cost $9 one way to Boston. If commuters are only going as far as Providence, however, their round trip ticket will only cost $5 plus a $4 fee at the parking garage.
The MBTA announced that the stations tentative opening date will be on Monday April 23rd, one month from today. The station will be last piece of the $336 Million project to extend commuter rail in the state of Rhode Island.
For more information check out the Wickford Junction Facebook Page!
Will all of the morning trains stop at the Ruggles Station?
ReplyDeleteLooking at the current schedule not all trains from TF Green stop at Ruggles which is a key stop for commuters.
The timetable for this station has yet to be released. From my understanding though the station will follow a timetable similar to TF Green. When more information become available I will be sure to post it!
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