In 1988, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) extended
commuter-rail service beyond its South Attleboro terminus into Rhode
Island and Providence Station. Today, a growing number of business
passengers commute between the Massachusetts and Rhode Island capitals
on this public-transportation service, which arguably is the most
pleasant in the country.
If and when the Massachusetts legislature acts on some unfinished
business, the MBTA will extend its service to Warwick and Green Airport.
In about 11 months, Amtrak’s high-speed rail service linking Boston,
Providence, and New York City will be operational. As a result, business
travelers in Southeastern New England will enjoy one of the most
comfortable and inexpensive inter-linking transportation networks in the
country.
If, as the Clinton administration alleges, improved transportation
infrastructure will help our expensive American workforce compete in the
global economy, Southeastern New Englanders will have a leg up on those
living in other regions in North America. At the core of this inter-
modal filigree of transportation options is the MBTA commuter-rail
service linking Providence and Boston.
Today, there is simply no better commute between Boston and Providence
than on the MBTA. The ride is delightfully smooth, surprisingly quiet,
and reasonably fast. The cars are clean and well maintained. The
conductors and other MBTA employees are personable and efficient. The
subsidized cost is less than half of bus service.
On a typical weekday morning, 955 passengers board one of the four MBTA
trains departing Providence Station for Boston. As the train’s string of
double-decker cars pulls into Providence Station, one hears little
collegial chatter among those tightly queued up on the platform. When
train doors open, the parliament of business-dressed commuters moves
fluidly into the cars, toward what appears to be a hierarchy of favored
accommodations.
Single seats by the door are snapped up quickly. Upper- and lower level
aisles, flanked by three-person bench seating to one side and two-person
on the other, easily absorb the rush. Window seats on the two-person
side fill first. Where bench-seating is turned to face each other, a
table-top between, regulars plop down and chat with familiarity. At the
first stop in South Attleboro, about twice as many commuters climb
aboard and it’s clear why certain window seats go first. It’s a bit of a
squeeze on the three-person benches and along the aisles when cars fill
to capacity.
Nevertheless, the commute is pleasant. No squawking chickens, very
little graffiti, none of the brazen vacant-gazes so ubiquitous on, say,
the Mexico City or Long Island commuter trains. This is Rhode Island,
after all. Commuters tend to be polite, read books, smile frequently.
And out the windows, especially in this glorious autumn season,
commuters are treated to a thousand private snapshots of backwater New
England life. This train follows an ancient trail; doubtless, deer hoofs
blazed this route. Effortlessly, quietly the MBTA arrives and departs a
series of towns laid out two hundred years ago. Passengers view forests,
main streets, rivers, backs of red brick mills, school children walking
in pairs. One is renewed by such scenes.
These off-the-freeway MBTA commuter-rail stops may be the next quality-
of-life boom-towns in the new millennium. Ever been to Providence?
Attleboro? Sharon? Just two and one-half hours from New York by high-
speed rail! Just 30-minutes from Green Airport! Just 20 minutes to the
ornate doors of Boston’s Symphony Hall. Life in sweet New England is
good, when you live on the MBTA!
At Back Bay (Copley Plaza) Station travelers stir with the excitement of
arrival. Then, passing through the panoramic “Big Dig” excavations,
commuters pull in to South Station on-time, downtown, ready to make
connections, ready for work. So civilized; so comfortable. So logical.
Travel time between capital cities averages one hour and ten minutes. A
one-way adult fare is $4.75. Week, month, or annual passes are available
at reduced prices. MBTA commuter rail is operated by Amtrak. At
Providence Station, MBTA ticket sales and information is available from
Amtrak ticket agents.
Weekday mornings, between 6:10 and 8:13, four commuter trains leave
Providence Station for Boston; one train departs Boston’s South Station
for a 7:25 arrival in Providence. Afternoons, between 5:43 and 7:26,
four commuter trains return to Providence from Boston’s South Station;
while, again, one train leaves Providence Station at 5:51 destined for
Boston.
MBTA’s rail service from South Attleboro offers commuters more
frequency, with fourteen outbound and fourteen inbound commuter trains
scheduled each weekday.
On an average weekday morning, 1,500 commuters board the Boston bound
MBTA commuter train at South Attleboro, where parking at a shopping
center abutting the track is available for $1.50 a day. However, unlike
at the Providence Station, the MBTA provides no commuter conveniences at
South Attleboro, such as shelter, toilets, ticket sales, or convenience
retailers. The Providence Business News, for example, along with other
newspapers, is available only from a coin box.
Business commuters carrying presentation materials, bags, or other
paraphernalia know the South Attleboro parking lots adjacent to the
tracks fill early in the morning. After 7:00 a.m., or so, commuters may
have to hike the equivalent of blocks, from parking spaces at the north
end of the shopping center near the Olive Garden restaurant.
Although the MBTA advertises availability of commuter-rail ticket sales
at the South Attleboro Economy Mobil gas station at 1249 Newport Avenue,
it is not so. Tickets and passes at the South Attleboro stop are
available only on the trains from a conductor. Credit-card payment is
not available on board; however, cash receipts are provided.
The MBTA Customer Service voice line is 800-392-6100.
