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Yesterday, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) broke ground on the Wickford Junction station.

The facility will be a component of the South County Commuter Rail expansion in Rhode Island. With commuter service provided by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the line would link to Providence, R.I., and Boston with an additional stop at T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I.

The 20-mile extension along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor received $4.4 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars and will receive an additional $13.6 million in New Starts grants. The extended commuter service is expected to start in 2012, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) officials said in a prepared statement.

Meanwhile, a Pawtucket station project recently was granted approval to begin preliminary engineering. The project involves building a rail station north of Providence to augment existing service. Expected to cost $53.9 million, the Pawtucket station is being considered for a total of $24.9 million in federal New Starts funding, according to the FTA.