Ah…we’re starting to get to the sketchy part of the E. No longer do we have the gorgeous buildings of Northeastern University, the Museum of Fine Arts, or the Longwood Medical Area. No longer do we have super wide platforms. No longer do we have those lovely trees lining the median. No, by this point, all we have is Brigham Circle.
 |
| Not the nicest-looking platform in the world… |
Brigham Circle has staggered platforms, with the inbound side further east than the outbound. Presumably this is because of limited space in the median, which would certainly make sense – these platforms aren’t as wide as the other stations down the line. Other than that, though, they do have all of the necessities for street stops: two shelters (only one on the outbound, but that makes sense by this point), wastebaskets, accessibility, and a ticket validator.
 |
| This platform certainly feels…skinnier. |
In fact, it was the only working ticket validator we had come across the whole day! Well…sort of. Nathan and I decided to test it out, and it printed out tickets for us. But when we looked at them, they said they were valid for May 19th…and today was the 22nd! All I can say is that I really hope these things work during the height of the rush hour.
 |
| A train on its way to Lechmere. |
Station: Brigham Circle
Ridership: Each weekday, the station gets 2,547 riders – slightly below Northeastern. There are still a few hospitals and schools to generate ridership by this point of the line, but you’ve also got a lot of local riders from apartments to the east.
Pros: I feel like I’ve said this with every station, but Brigham Circle has all the necessities of a street stop: shelters, accessibility, wastebaskets, and a sort-of working validator (?).
Cons: Unfortunately, Brigham Circle is slightly worse than the other stations on the line. For one thing, the platforms are much narrower due to limited space on Huntington Ave. Also, the right-of-way is just kind of generic by this point, and downright ugly in certain spots.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are a few parts of the Longwood Medical Area that this station is slightly closer to than the station of the same name. Other than that, small businesses abound to the east.
Final Verdict: 6/10
Brigham Circle is definitely the lesser of the in-median stations of the E Line. It still has all of the basic amenities you would want, but the platform isn’t as wide, and it’s not as pretty as the stations before it. Still, though…it’s better than the street section. Stay tuned!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
I have a love hate relationship with Brigham Circle, its a fine station but its where they take heath st bound trains out of service sometimes for whatever reason, usually when theres bunching. I get wanting to fix the bunching but Brigham Circle is only a few stops away from Heath St, just run one of them express to the end and use the 2nd track at heath st to wait a little bit! Taking one out requires getting everyone off, waiting for the 39 to show up and bring everyone to heath st, moving the train onto the other track, theres no way that its not only the best soloution to bunching but also dosnt CAUSE bunching by having the heath st bound track occupied for 5-10 min while the switches line up and the driver switches cabs.