Providence — Local services in Providence

The train station is very organized and easy to find your way around. It has several screens that describe each train and its relevant information; such as the track number, any delays, the direction, etc.

The MBTA conductors are not at all tied to any one station, but we all know them conductors can be somewhat questionable - like changing the train's direction last minute and expecting that, over the sound of two trains, a few yells from one person will be enough to inform all travellers that it has change directions. No announcement over the PA, no changing the sign over each track to reflect the change, just a yell. (By the time I got off, the train I should have been on had left. Next one was 2.5 hours later, so I took the bus)

Again, that is not necessarily a reflection on the station itself, as I would definitely go there again.

You do, however, have to be mindful when you're by yourself at night waiting for the bus outside the train station (and maybe with others). While I was waiting for the route 66 bus, a man was going around and asking people for money so he could "get to a parole meeting" at 10 PM... I wont pretend I know how parole works, but I don't think they would hold a couple of hours from midnight on Columbus Day. I also couldn't imagine that if you legitimately couldn't make it, that they would send you to prison for it.

In summary, the entire station is great as it allows multiple methods of getting back into Rhode Island - which really helps if you miss your train :D. It is difficult to not understand what to do, and if you have any trouble at all, there is always someone...

This review does not do justice to the two small businesses inside of the station, but I will fill it with the information you need to get your day started.

Cafe Lafrance is a high volume coffee shop that can make you a sandwich, a specialty coffee, a tea, or sell you your commuter rail (cash only for commuter rail tickets, only when the cafe is open.) They.are.awesome, and worth a review of their own. Get commuter rail tickets at the corner farthest from the main entrance.

A travel shop is open longer than the coffee shop there. Expect to find various Rhode Island related gifts and travel goods at a high markup. Things are expensive and rightly so, because location.

If both are closed, there are vending machines with an ATM located there.

Limited parking is available underneath the train station, more is accessible at Providence Place Mall across the green outside of the station.

Amtrak does run train service to Providence amongst the Northeast Corridor to from NYC to Boston, a commuter rail to Boston also runs out of this station at more periodic intervals, but has more local stops than Amtrak, so it is a longer trip.

Have fun traveling, it really is a...

Like most US railway stations, it's underdeveloped, poorly maintained and passenger-hostile. Customers need to study branding and jargon to get the right ticket, and drag baggage a block through rain to get to a connecting (sort of) bus. The platform décor is prison-style, and there are very few of even the most basic facilities, like restaurants or charging stations.

And I don't understand why they put the station so far out of the way, especially considering the tracks go right under the nearby shopping centre. Why they didn't just build the station into the shopping centre, or somewhere else where people go, as is normal in most developed nations, is beyond me.

The concourse and waiting areas aren't quite as dreary as the platforms, so it gets two stars, instead of one, but Providence still deserves better. They should move this station to the shopping centre, along with the bus interchange; it'd be much more pleasant for customers, and reverse the pathetic decline of the shopping...