NORTH KINGSTOWN — A plan to build a train station near a Wickford Wal-Mart is moving forward. Yesterday, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said the state will get $5.4 million in federal money to start the project.

The station won’t resemble the historic building in nearby Kingston.

Instead, the Wickford Junction Station will feature a parking garage, a platform and a waiting area inside the garage, said Stephen A. Devine, chief of intermodal planning for the state Department of Transportation.

Because the tracks are elevated, the garage will be partially hidden by a berm.

“This is the future of mass transit,” said Devine. The state hopes to purchase land near Wal-Mart and a Staples store from the developer, Wickford Junction Associates. The two stores are part of a retail complex off Ten Rod Road.

According to Reed, the state will get more than $2 million to buy the land for the garage. Another $1.8 million will be spent on the design and engineering, and $1.2 million will be used to buy tracks.

South County is growing and there are few places left for new roads, Reed said.

“By getting more commuters off the highways and onto mass transit” the project will relieve congestion on Routes 4 and 95, “improve air quality and provide Rhode Islanders with some measure of relief from rising gas prices,” Reed said.

The station should also give local businesses a boost, he added.

DOT officials say more than 54,000 vehicles travel daily on Route 4 north of Wickford Junction.

The station is part of a proposed rail line that, in Rhode Island, will connect Providence, T.F. Green Airport and North and South Kingstown.

The DOT recently announced plans to start work on a $222.5-million transportation hub at the airport. DOT officials said they have reached a preliminary agreement with Amtrak to allow MBTA commuter trains to connect Warwick to Boston.

Officials aren’t sure when construction on the Wickford station will begin, “but our ultimate goal is to get the trains running by mid-2010,” Devine said.

“We still need to acquire some land from Amtrak” and the state is still negotiating a price with the owners of Wickford Junction, he said. “It’s an ideal site, with immediate access to Route 4,” Devine said.

pdavis@projo.com