Kingston station (Massachusetts)

Kingston station (formerly Kingston/Route 3) is an MBTA Commuter Rail serving the 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 station is fully accessible.

Kingston
Kingston station in January 2013
General information
Location194 Marion Drive
Kingston, Massachusetts
Coordinates41°58′36″N 70°43′24″W
Line(s)Kingston Branch
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
ConnectionsBus transport GATRA: SAIL
Construction
Parking1,039 spaces ($4.00 fee)
AccessibleYes
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 Line Terminus
Services at pre-1959 station
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Plympton
toward Boston
 Boston–​Plymouth Cordage
toward Plymouth
Island Creek
toward Boston
 South Shore Line
Service ended 1938

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 (Route 3A). The original station was replaced in 1889.[3] It was the southern terminus of the South Shore Line until 1938. Boston–Plymouth service ended in 1959, though the station is still extant and used as a restaurant.

The 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 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.[4] The 120-foot (37 m)-tall turbine, which was completed in January 2012, only produces about 60% of the energy it was expected to.[5][6] The MBTA called the station "Kingston/Route 3" in some materials until around 2016.[7]

The fork at the end of the line created operational issues – a single train cannot serve both terminal stations efficiently. Three daily trips formerly ran to both Kingston and Plymouth sequentially, which doubled travel time from Kingston to Boston during much of the day. Between Kingston and Plymouth, the train simultaneously acted 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, but did not do so.[8] Plymouth station was indefinitely closed on April 5, 2021, as part of service cuts, with all trains terminating at Kingston.[9][10]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1889. p. 7.
  4. "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.
  5. Simpson, Neal (August 18, 2012). "South Shore fertile ground for wind turbines". Patriot Ledger.
  6. Tellier, Steve (October 3, 2019). "7Investigates: MBTA Wind Turbines". WHDH.
  7. "Kingston/Route 3". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  8. Dungca, Nicole (October 4, 2015). "Rail trip from Kingston shows MBTA's 'scheduling anomalies'". Boston Globe. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  9. "Spring 2021 Service Changes". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 2021. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021.
  10. "Kingston Line Spring 2021 Schedule, Effective April 5th, 2021" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 5, 2021.

Media related to Kingston/Route 3 station at Wikimedia Commons

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