Oh, nice, so Norwood Central is in a downtown or something? That’s awesome! Maybe it’ll have a Needham Center-type feel where the station is literally integrated in the town center. Or maybe it’ll be in the middle of a wasteland of parking lots and industrial buildings! Yup, it’s the second one…

Yum.

This is a lameeeeee platform. The mini-highs have shelter, at least, but there are no benches on them, even though they have plenty of room for at least one! The low-level portion is more or less bare, save for some benches, wastebaskets, and decrepit signs, until you get to some shelters way at the end. On the inbound side, it’s just a typical modern Commuter Rail shelter, but on the outbound…

Oho!

Yes, there’s a building! And it’s on the outbound side, which isn’t uncommon, but it is annoying. There’s a small waiting room with a bench in it, but there wasn’t much indication of whether or not it ever opens. Based on how basic and empty it is, I half-wonder if it’s just locked all the time. UPDATE: Ryan Norton in the comments says it does open up, but it’s literally just a bench. Finally, I’ll briefly mention the station’s parking: a whopping 781 car spaces, and 27 bike spaces.

Single track until the end of time…

Station: Norwood Central

Ridership: Believe it or not, this unassuming wasteland of a station is the 11th-busiest on the Commuter Rail! That’s right, it gets 1,185 inbound riders per day, and I have no idea where they’re coming from! Maybe they’re all town residents? Of course, Norwood Depot is two seconds up the line…

Pros: The station’s name is pretty misleading, but there’s no denying the station is in the middle of a dense town. This attracts a lot of ridership to its nice, big parking lot!

Cons: This station is just gross, man! I don’t know what it is, but it just has this desolate feeling to it. The mini-highs also have no benches, which is really annoying.

Nearby and Noteworthy: “Norwood Central”, as it were, is within equal walking distance of this and Norwood Depot, but there are a ton of businesses there. It also has the 34E, and it still baffles me that a T bus comes out this far!

Final Verdict: 4/10
I think with this one, you have to have been there to understand why my score is so low. The place is functional, absolutely, but I just really don’t like its location and the experience of waiting there. Also, the lack of benches on the mini-high is even more inexcusable when you find out how many people use this stop!

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
If you haven’t seen TransitMatters’s regional rail report, I recommend you take a look! It’s super interesting and a fantastic long-term vision of our current Commuter Rail system.