Coming off the heels of ranting about the Kingston/Plymouth Line’s split termini, let’s review one of them! Andddddddd…it’s the pointless one. Look, Plymouth is perfectly fine as a station, but I have some serious issues with the fact that it even exists. Oh well…it does, so let’s see what it has to offer.

Woah…

Well, I think the most important question to address first is: where the heck is Plymouth Station? Because as you can tell from the picture, it ain’t near the Mayflower and it ain’t near the rock! No, Plymouth Station is about a 40 minute walk from either of those popular historical attractions; instead, it’s located in beautiful Cordage Park, which is anything but beautiful. It’s, uh, just a gross industrial park. Hm.

The platform shelter.

Plymouth’s high-level platform isn’t anything special. It’s typical Old Colony, with a long shelter and a few benches and wastebaskets underneath. It stretches pretty far on either end, with a few sparse benches and nothing much else.

The parking lot, next to an abandoned Walmart. How the heck does a Walmart get abandoned?

This station offers 96 parking spaces, some lined up along the platform and some in a more typical lot formation. “Gosh, 96 spaces?” you may say, “That doesn’t seem like a lot!” Well…it’s over three times the station’s ridership, so, uh…it’s definitely enough. The MBTA website says the station has eight bike spaces, but I couldn’t find any anywhere.

More of the lot.

We can’t forget that the GATRA serves this station too! The Freedom and Liberty Links run right alongside the platform in a characteristic deviation. Also, they don’t have signage! Gee, I feel like a bus from this station to downtown Plymouth could get some great tourist ridership, but, uh, I guess GATRA disagrees. PUT A DARN SIGN UP!

Two shots of the same train.

Station: Plymouth

Ridership: This is one of the least-used stations on the Commuter Rail. Are you ready for this? 30 inbound riders per weekday. That’s it.

Pros: Well, as a station, it’s fine. You know, it’s your typical Old Colony platform, and the station is right by the water, which is nice. There’s also more than enough parking – like I said, three times the ridership!

Cons: Quite frankly, trains should just stop serving this station, because it’s not helping anyone to send them out here. Okay, it’s helping 30 people, but that’s not a lot of people. The thing is, having trains come out here adds a lot of time to train schedules and to commuters, and for what? So that a few people can get off at a station that shaves off a few minutes of driving time for them? No, I’m sorry, I just don’t see the point.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Oh, you know, one of the oldest settlements in the entire country…if you’re willing to walk 45 minutes, that is! At least there’s always the GATRA to take you there.

Final Verdict: 2/10
Okay, Plymouth as a station is fine. It’s typical. It’s normal. Whatever. But come on, does it really need to exist? No, no it doesn’t. Deviating trains here takes so much time, and it’s helping so few people per day. Yes, as a station it’s fine…but it shouldn’t have been built in the first place.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates