ATTLEBORO -- Sleep might come a little easier to residents in the Oak Hill Avenue area later this month.

State Rep. John Lepper said his 12-year battle to get a train layover station moved from Attleboro to Paw tucket appears to be coming to a close.

Lepper, R-Attleboro, said residents have been given false promises in the past, but this time it looks like the move is really going to happen.

He said the layover station has been built in Pawtucket and is sched uled to have a ribbon-cutting opening ceremony July 31.

Use of the new station will actual ly begin July 24, he said. The station is a place where trains idle over night.

Residents in the Oak Hill Avenue area have complained for years that the sound of the trains keeps them awake at night.

The Pawtucket station is located in an industrial area.

`` This has been a 12-year effort on my part. I'm extremely pleased to have that station in place,'' Lepper said.

The construction and use of the new station has been delayed by a number of factors, including a dis pute over who should pay for electri cal lines to be relocated.

Lepper passed legislation making opening the station a condition of expanding the commuter rail to Providence.

Service to Providence will finally increase July 29, with weekday trips to Rhode Island expanding from 11 to 15 per day, according to an announce ment by the MBTA. Also, weekend service to Providence will be initiat ed for the first time.

As a result of the expanded ser vice, the commuter rail line is being renamed from Stoughton-Attleboro to Stoughton-Providence.

Lepper said the only change Attle boro area commuters might notice is that early morning trains to Boston might be more crowded.

MBTA officials said the expanded service is a result of a partnership between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which obtained federal funds for the increased service and the new train layover facility in Pawtucket. Rhode Island transportation officials are also working on a $225 million project to connect Boston to communities south of Providence as early as 2008. Two new commuter rail stations near T.F. Green Airport in Warwick and North Kingstown are being planned.

MBTA General Manager Daniel Grabauskas said more than 1,000 people board the commuter rail daily in Providence.

`` Rhode Islanders have helped make this commuter rail line the busiest in the MBTA system,'' Grabauskas said in a statement. `` We look forward to attracting even more customers with the new service being offered.''