South Attleboro (MBTA station)

SOUTH ATTLEBORO
An inbound train leaves South Attleboro
Location	1315 Newport Avenue Attleboro, Massachusetts
Coordinates	41°53′51″N 71°21′21″W / 41.8976°N 71.3558°W / 41.8976; -71.3558Coordinates: 41°53′51″N 71°21′21″W / 41.8976°N 71.3558°W / 41.8976; -71.3558
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Providence/Stoughton Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	RIPTA: 1, 35
Construction
Parking	568 spaces ($2.00 fee) 14 accessible spaces
Bicycle facilities	2 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	7
History
Opened	June 20, 1990
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	1,462 (weekday inbound average)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Providence toward Wickford Junction Providence/Stoughton Line Attleboro toward South Station

South Attleboro is a commuter rail station on the Northeast Corridor located in the South Attleboro section of Attleboro, Massachusetts, served by the MBTA Commuter Rail Providence/Stoughton Line. The station, situated underneath Newport Avenue, is the MBTA's southernmost station on the line in Massachusetts, located almost exactly on the border with Rhode Island. It includes a large park-and-ride lot to serve commuters from the nearby cites of Pawtucket and Central Falls.

South Attleboro averaged 1,462 inbound passengers per weekday in 2013, making it the ninth busiest station in the commuter rail system. Passenger counts have high year-to-year variation; in previous years it had been as high as third with over 2,000 riders counted.

Historically, there was no station on the site where the modern station now exists. (This is unusual; most stations opened under the MBTA have been located on the sites of former stations). The nearest stations were Hebronville, 2 miles to the east, and Pawtucket/Central Falls an equal distance to the west. Hebronville closed long before the MBTA era, while Pawtucket/Central Falls closed on February 20, 1981 when Rhode Island stopped funding commuter rail service to Providence. Commuter service returned to Providence on February 1, 1988, but the Pawtucket/Central Falls station remained closed.

The MBTA built a new station at South Attleboro to reach the Pawtucket/Central Falls market without adding a second stop in Rhode Island, which Rhode Island did not wish to pay for. The station site at Route 1A is located less than a mile east of the point where the line enters Rhode Island, and offered room for a parking lot whereas the downtown Pawtucket location did not. South Attleboro station opened on June 20, 1990, before which the southernmost station in Massachusetts was Attleboro. The area where the station is located in was once part of a Holiday Inn that was shut down to make way for the station. The former hotel is now a warehouse.