page_title: Rockport station
section_title: Modern improvements
hierarchical_section_title: Rockport station / History / Modern improvements
caption_attribution_description: English: MBTA Rockport station
context_page_description: Rockport station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Rockport, Massachusetts. It is the terminus of the Rockport branch of the Newburyport/Rockport Line. The station complex consists of a single side platform with one revenue track plus 4 layover tracks for parked trains and a short stretch of auxiliary track.
  Like many MBTA Commuter Rail stations, Rockport's platform is mostly low with a single high section in the center. Other stations have the high section on the outer end of the platform, but this was not possible due to a commercial property abutting the outer end of the station.
  The MBTA is currently planning upgrades to the Rockport station area, including a bus shelter and information kiosk as well as improvements to the layover yard. Further improvements, including a full-length high-level platform, were recently planned but shelved due to funding issues.
context_section_description: The station has a number of issues, many of which are unique to Rockport. The layover facility is located in a residential and commercial area, rather than a rural or industrial lot as with most other MBTA layovers. Power available at the layover is insufficient to run locomotives, so they are forced to idle their diesel motors for long periods, causing noise pollution for surrounding properties. Due to inadequate parking facilities, commuters and patrons of nearby businesses often park inside the layover yard. Flooding after rain due to inadequate drainage further reduces available parking. Pooles Lane, a minor local road, cuts through the facility at an unprotected crossing, which limits the length of trains that can be stored, interferes with operations, and creates frequently unsafe conditions.
  In 1999, the MBTA set a number of goals for improving Rockport station, which was largely unmodified since 1979. These included:
  Double parking capacity to 175 spaces, with associated pavement, drainage, lighting, safety, and aesthetic improvements
  Building a fully accessible platform long enough for 9-car trains
  Providing layover space for four 9-car trains, with the ability to handle trains with two locomotives
  However, due to the construction of the Greenbush Line and four infill stations on the Framingham/Worcester Line, funds were not immediately available to implement these goals. In 2006, as an interim solution, the MBTA built a mini-high platform to render the station handicapped accessible. The $70,000 platform took ten weeks to construct and opened on June 28, 2006.
  In 2007, the MBTA completed an alternatives analysis of the layover facility. Several alternatives involved improvements to the existing site, while others looked at moving to a completely new yard at Piggery Crossing on Eastern Avenue (near the old Bass Rocks station site). All would have closed the Pooles Lane crossing and created a new street entrance and larger parking lot in the existing layover yard space. The Piggery Crossing layover alternatives minimized land-taking at the station area, but were more expensive and impacted a designated town historic space. In 2008, the MBTA began planning to implement Alternative A1, which would have created a modernized 4-track layover facility at the station with an engine shed to minimize noise from locomotives. The project was to be completed in 2011. The agency awarded a $1.2 million design contract in June 2008. However, after several years of delays, the improvements were tacitly canceled by the MBTA due to disagreements between the town and the MBTA over the project scope and funding.
  In June 2013, the MBTA released plans for a less ambitious improvements project. Ground power for locomotives is to be upgraded from 175 and 200 amps to 600 amps to eliminate long-term idling, while a bus shelter and information kiosk are to be installed for use by the Cape Ann Transportation Authority. The then-$2.8 million project was to be partially funded by $1.2 million in federal earmarks obtained during the previous project planning phase, without need for local monies. The MBTA originally planned to advertise for bids by the end of 2013 and complete the project in late 2014.
  However, design completion was delayed to January 2014 due to the need to place a substation inside, rather than guarded by a fence, and then to October 2014 by other matters. The schedule as of January 2015 called for full funding by July 2015, advertisement for construction in Q4 2015, and completion by 3Q 2016; however, this schedule was not achieved. Although the current project does not include an engine shed, new platform, or parking lot improvements, it is specifically designed not to preclude them and the MBTA may add those elements later if funding becomes available. Bidding for the $4.2 million project is expected to begin in October 2016.
  On April 29, 2020, service between West Gloucester and Rockport was indefinitely replaced by buses due to a failure of the old bridge. That June, the MBTA indicated the closure would continue until th
caption: Commuters parked in the layover yard in 2008
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