Kingston Railroad Station (Rhode Island)

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Kingston Station
File:Kingston Railroad Station.JPG
Historic station building at Kingston Railroad Station
Location 1 Railroad Avenue
West Kingston, RI
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Owned by State of Rhode Island
Line(s) Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Platforms 2 side platforms
Tracks 2 +1 (2 passenger service, 1 high speed bypass under construction)[1]
Construction
Parking 150 spots
Bicycle facilities Yes
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code KIN
History
Opened June 1875 (current station)
Rebuilt May 31, 1998
Traffic
Passengers (2014) 154,497[2][3] Increase 1.4%
Services
Preceding station   BSicon LOGO Amtrak2.svg Amtrak   Following station
Northeast Regional
  Proposed services  
MBTA Commuter Rail
Terminus Providence/Stoughton Line
Kingston Railroad Station
Location South Kingstown, Rhode Island
Built 1875
Architect Unknown
Architectural style Stick/Eastlake
NRHP Reference # 78078000018[4]
Added to NRHP April 26, 1978

Kingston Railroad Station is a historic railroad station located on the Northeast Corridor in the village of West Kingston, in the town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island. It was built at this location in 1875 by the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad, replacing earlier stations dating back to the opening of the line in 1837. Part of the station building is now a railway museum, while the other serves as a waiting room for Amtrak passengers. Although it currently only sees intercity service, with 9 daily Northeast Regional trains in each direction, Kingston is a proposed stop for commuter service to Providence and Boston as an extension of the MBTA Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line.

History

File:Kingston Rhode Island station 1875.png
Kingston station in 1875

The New York, Providence and Boston Railroad opened in November 1837.[5] Since its tracks did not go through the village of Kingston, a new village - West Kingston - sprang up around the railroad station on Waites Corner Road.[3]

The Kingston Station has continued as a railroad station from the day it opened in June 1875 to the present. Historically, Kingston station also served the Narragansett Pier Railroad. Travel time for the Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value). trip between Kingston and Narragansett Pier was approximately 20 minutes[6] before passenger service ended unofficially in June, 1952.[7] (In 2000 the former right-of-way was converted into the William C. O’Neill Bike Path.)

File:Acela passing through Kingston Station, RI.jpg
An Acela Express train passing through Kingston at 150 mph (240 km/h)

By the 1960s, service to Kingston station consisted of regional service from Boston to New York City, plus a single commuter round trip from New London to Boston.[8] When Amtrak took over intercity service from Penn Central in May 1971, Penn Central was not given license to discontinue the commuter trip. When permission was given in 1972, it was replaced with a state-funded Westerly-Providence round trip also stopping at Kingston.[8] This trip lasted until June 1977.[9] From September 1976 to October 1977 and January–April 1978 Amtrak's Clamdigger ran local service from Providence to New Haven with a stop at Kingston. The Beacon Hill replaced the Clamdigger in April 1978, running local from New Haven to Boston.[10] Faced with declining ridership and the loss of state subsidies, the Beacon Hill was discontinued effective October 24, 1981, leaving Kingston with just intercity stopping service.[11]

The station was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 26, 1975.[4]

An organization called The Friends of Kingston Station was instrumental in preserving the station and assuring its restoration after a fire there on December 12, 1988.

Although most Northeast Regional trains stop at Kingston, Acela Express trains do not. Kingston is located on one of several sections of track where the Acela Express is permitted to run at its full 150 mph (240 km/h) speed. Kingston and Mansfield are the only stations where the Acela will pass through at full speed on tracks adjacent to platforms.[note 1] Signs and automated announcements warn passengers of the potential danger. Since it is the only station between New London and Providence which can deboard passengers from Acela trains, they occasionally do stop at Kingston in emergencies such as downed wires or problems with the locomotives.[12][note 2]

Railroad museum

The Rhode Island Railroad Museum located at Kingston Station is now permanently closed because the second half of the building is needed due to increasing ridership at the station. By the time the platform reconstruction project is done, the area will be used as a second waiting room with outlets and extra seating.

Future

File:Kingston RI tracks.JPG
The low platforms at Kingston will be raised to full-length high-level platforms as part of a $26M upgrade project

Infrastructure

In 2009, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation requested American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds for engineering of a siding and platform that would allow local trains to stop at the station, possibly including future MBTA Commuter Rail trains on an extension of the Providence/Stoughton Line.[13]

Proposed commuter service

In 1994, a RIDOT report indicated that the Northeast Corridor was the most viable route for commuter service in Rhode Island.[14] That same year, a Federal Railroad Administration report estimated that Kingston-Providence service would begin in 1999.[15] In 2001, RIDOT released a potential operations plans for South County commuter rail service from Westerly to Providence, with a stop at Kingston plus infill stops at Wickford Junction and T.F. Green Airport. The report considered the service as an extension of Shore Line East, an extension of the MBTA's Providence/Stoughton Line, or a stand-alone service.[16] However, the 2003 Environmental Assessment and a 2009 report studying service to Woonsocket did not discuss extending service further south than Wickford Junction.[17][18] Service to T.F. Green Airport began in December 2010, and to Wickford Junction in April 2012.[8]

However, that same year, the application for funds for the third track was noted as a prerequisite for the extension of commuter service.[13]

Platform Reconstruction Project

The low-levels at Kingston Station are currently being replaced with high level platforms to accommodate disabled passengers more easily, as part of a $26 million project. Also, a third track will be in place to service potential future MBTA Commuter Rail trains and so Northeast Regionals can switch off the main line to let High Speed Acela Express trains pass through with fewer delays. This will make Kingston Station similar to the Old Saybrook Amtrak station, 53 miles down the Northeast Corridor from Kingston.

Bus connections

Two RIPTA bus routes connect the station to the URI campus and major cities in Rhode Island:

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://nec.amtrak.com/content/kingston-station-capacity-expansion
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Notes

  1. ↑ Attleboro, T. F. Green Airport, and Wickford Junction are also located on 150 mph (240 km/h) sections, but these stations have platform tracks not normally used by the Acela.
  2. ↑ Although Kingston does not currently have full-length high platforms, the mini-high platforms are sufficient for deboarding passengers if required. Of the other stations between New London and Providence, Mystic and Westerly have only low-level platforms, while the platforms at T. F. Green Airport and Wickford Junction are located on non-electrified sidings.

External links

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