- Providence Station
Infobox Station
style=Amtrak
name=Providence
image_size=
image_caption=
address=100 Gaspee Street
Providence, RI
line=Amtrak:rail color box|system=Amtrak|line=Acela Expressrail color box|system=Amtrak|line=RegionalMBTA:rail color box|system=MBTA|line=Providence
other=Bus routes
platform=
parking=
bicycle=
passengers=565,701 [Amtrak only.] cite web |url=http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/AmtrakBackgroundInformationFacts-022007.pdf |title=Amtrak National Fact Sheet |publisher=Amtrak Media Relations |month=February | year=2007 |accessdate=2007-03-12]
pass_year=2007
pass_percent=10
opened=1986
ADA=true
code=PVD
owned=Amtrak
zone=
baggage_check=Available for Northeast Regionals 66 and 67
services=Providence Station is a railroad station in
Providence, Rhode Island and is served byAmtrak and theMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The station has four tracks for passenger service, with a fifth track passing through forProvidence and Worcester Railroad freight trains. It is the 17th busiest Amtrak station in the country, after BWI. [http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/AmtrakBackgroundInformationFacts-022007.pdf]Providence Station has full length high-level platforms and is
wheelchair accessible. A new layover facility for MBTA commuter trains, located north of the station in Pawtucket, opened in 2006, allowing the MBTA to increase service to the city. Service is planned toT. F. Green Airport once a new station under construction in Warwick is completed around 2009.History
Providence's first railroad station was Union Station, a brick edifice built in 1847 by the Providence and Worcester, Providence and Stonington, and Boston and Providence Railroads. This building was lost to fire in 1896, and replaced by a newer Union Station, completed 1898, which consisted of five large brick structures, built by New Haven Railroad. In
1986 , the current Providence Station (shown here) was built to replace the 1898 station, as part of an redevelopment project to free up land from a mass of train tracks that had hemmed in downtown Providence. It is much smaller than its predecessor, reflecting the diminished local role of railroad transit. Designed byMarilyn Taylor ofSkidmore, Owings and Merrill , local architectural historian William McKenzie Woodward lauds the building for its aesthetics, calling its saucer dome "an obvious yet very gracious gesture toward the (Rhode Island) State House". [Woodward, Wm McKenzie. "Guide to Providence Architecture". 1st ed. 2003: United States. ISBN 0-9742847-0-x. p303-304.]The now-renovated buildings of the 1892 station still form the northern side of
Kennedy Plaza in the center of Downtown Providence.Amtrak
Two of Amtrak's passenger rail routes serve the station: the
Acela Express and the Northeast Regional. The Acela Express is the United States' only high-speed rail service. It connects Boston's South Station with New York Penn Station and Washington, DC. The Regional rail service is a more local train that stretches betweenNewport News ,Virginia and Boston. Not all Regional trains go to Newport News; the vast majority end at Washington, DC. 512,974 Amtrak passengers patronise the station annually.MBTA
The
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), also has service at Providence station. The Providence/Stoughton commuter rail line's southern terminus is located at Providence. The Providence/Stoughton Line provides commuter service to towns between Providence and Boston, sharing track with Amtrak trains. A new station is under construction that will allow service toT.F. Green Airport in 2009 or 2010. Service might be extended farther south to Wickford Junction.Unlike what the name implies, there is no direct service from Providence to
Stoughton, Massachusetts . Stoughton station lies on a branch of the Providence/Stoughton line that is only accessible from stations between South Station and Canton Junction.Ground transportation
A taxi stand faces the city side of the station. Though the
Kennedy Plaza hub for bus-based local and regional transportation is approximately 1/4 mile away, the route is not marked. The 50, 55, 56, and 57 RIPTA buses connect the state side of the station with Kennedy Plaza. Until the extension to the MBTA commuter rail is completed, those wishing to transfer to T.G Green Airport via public transportation must take a bus to Kennedy Plaza and transfer there.Notes
References
*Woodward, Wm McKenzie. "Guide to Providence Architecture". 1st ed. 2003: United States. ISBN 0-9742847-0-x. p303-304.
* [http://www.rifoundation.org/matriarch/Switch.asp_Q_PageID_E_430 "One Union Station" on The Rhode Island Foundation]
* [http://www.providenceri.com/history/centuries1.html Three and One-Half Centuries at a Glance (May 2002).] ProvidenceRI.com - History and Fact.External links
* [http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/stations/default.asp?stopId=163&lat=41.829641&lng=-71.413332 MBTA Providence Station]
* [http://www.trainweb.org/usarail/providence.htm Providence Amtrak-MBTA Station (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)]
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