Kingston/Route 3 station

Kingston/Route 3 (often abbreviated as Kingston) is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Plymouth/Kingston Line, located off of Massachusetts Route 3 south of downtown Kingston, Massachusetts. It opened in 1997 during the restoration of Old Colony Lines service. Like all stations on the Old Colony Lines, Kingston/Route 3 station is fully accessible.

"Kingston station (MBTA)" redirects here. For the proposed MBTA station in Rhode Island, see Kingston station (Rhode Island).
Kingston/Route 3
Kingston/Route 3 station in January 2013
Location194 Marion Drive, Kingston, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°58′36″N 70°43′24″W
Owned byMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)Kingston Branch
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Connections GATRA: SAIL, Plymouth Area Link
Construction
Parking1,039 spaces ($4.00 fee)
25 accessible spaces
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone8
History
OpenedSeptember 29, 1997[1]
Passengers
2018657 (weekday average boardings)[2]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Halifax
toward South Station
 Kingston/​Plymouth Line Terminus

The station consists of a single side platform serving the single track. Marion Drive, the access road for the station parking lot, crosses the line at grade just east of the platform. The Kingston layover yard is located just west of the station.

History
The former Kingston station, now a restaurant, in February 2013

The Old Colony Railroad's Kingston station was located in downtown Kingston off Summer Street (MA-3A). Service ended in 1959, though the station is still extant and used as a restaurant.

Kingston/Route 3 station was built to provide a park and ride station for Route 3 so that traffic to the station would not go through downtown Kingston. A completely new right of way – the first new section of mainline rail in the state since the Needham Cutoff in 1906 – was constructed along Route 3 and through unused land. The spur passes under the Route 3 / 3A interchange in a lengthy tunnel. A layover yard for Plymouth/Kingston Line service is located just past the station. Peak service began to Kingston/Route 3 on September 29, 1997, with off-peak and weekend service beginning on November 29.[1] In October 2011, the MBTA began construction of a $2.5 million wind turbine to supply energy to the station and layover facility.[3] The 120-foot (37 m)-tall turbine, which was completed in January 2012, only produces about 60% of the energy it was expected to.[4][5]

The fork at the end of the line creates operational issues – a single train cannot serve both terminal stations efficiently. Three daily trips run to both Kingston and Plymouth sequentially, which doubles travel time from Kingston to Boston during much of the day (Kingston is first on all weekday and one weekend trip). Between Kingston and Plymouth, the train is simultaneously acting as an inbound train (from the first station to Boston) and an outbound train (from Boston to the second station). Keolis and the MBTA planned to address the unusual routing during schedule changes in late 2015.[6]

Bus connections

Kingston/Route 3 station is outside the MBTA bus service district. GATRA operates two routes to the station:

  • Marshfield/Duxbury/Kingston (SAIL)
  • Plymouth Area Link

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. "Patrick-Murray Administration Breaks Ground on Kingston Wind Turbine Program to Boost State's Energy Efficiency" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 25, 2011.
  4. Simpson, Neal (August 18, 2012). "South Shore fertile ground for wind turbines". Patriot Ledger.
  5. Tellier, Steve (October 3, 2019). "7Investigates: MBTA Wind Turbines". WHDH.
  6. Dungca, Nicole (4 October 2015). "Rail trip from Kingston shows MBTA's 'scheduling anomalies'". Boston Globe. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
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