Kingston/Route 3

Kingston/Route 3 is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Plymouth/Kingston Line, located 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 handicapped accessible.HistoryThe 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.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 may address the unusual routing during schedule changes in late 2015.