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TheSausageFattener t1_j33anqz wrote

Reply to comment by ToadScoper in New MBTA commuter rail station in Pawtucket to open Jan. 23 by ToadScoper

At one point I think you could have taken a trolley from Newport to Boston too.

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le127 t1_j3529j1 wrote

Back in the 1920s there were both trolley/streetcar/tram lines in the cities and interurban rail lines between the cities and even into some of the rural areas. There are still a few remnants of the bed from the Providence-Woonsocket line if you know where to look. When private autos became common everybody saw this as the modern way to go. Looking back now it might be nice to still have some of that infrastructure. The links below are old maps showing the long gone interurban rail lines.

http://www.vizettes.com/kt/ne-interurbans/ri/north-ri.htm

http://www.vizettes.com/kt/ne-interurbans/ri/se-ri.htm

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TheSausageFattener t1_j355yh7 wrote

Massachusetts approved some money to run a planning study on restoring passenger rail service from Providence to Worcester this past summer. I doubt that will happen though. I don't think RIDOT would bite, and Mass has so many other rail expansion plans that would happen first.

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