South Station
It’s the fifth anniversary of this blog, and we’ve gotta do something special for it! Here we are: South Station. The biggest station on the MBTA. The busiest station on the MBTA. The last station on the MBTA. Let’s. Do. This.
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| Well, this isn’t starting us off very grandly… |
I’ve always been lukewarm about the Red Line platform at South Station. Sure, there’s no denying that it’s clean, much cleaner than the other downtown stations. Still, though, isn’t it dark and dingy? The ceilings and the divider between the tracks are painted black. It’s like a cave! A spotless cave, but still a cave.
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| The virtually identical inbound side. |
Still, for what the platform lacks in aesthetics, it still has all your basic amenities. There are benches, wastebaskets, countdown clocks, and TV screens showing ads (as well as old-fashioned paper ads – woah). The Red Line station can be somewhat quiet or really busy, depending on how connections have timed up – if a few Commuter Rail trains arrive at the same time in the morning rush, you can bet this place will be packed.
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| Miles on the MBTA: bringing you the highest quality MBTA photos since 2013! |
There are a few exits from the platform to choose from. My favorite is the one that takes you straight out of fare control, getting you to the Commuter Rail in a faster time (board at the back of the second car going south if you want that one). If you want to get to the Silver Line, though, there’s an exit featuring a staircase, a really narrow escalator, and an elevator.
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| That’s nice! |
The overall quality of South Station’s elevators is high, and this is no exception. It doesn’t smell that bad, and it even has this convenient placard showing what services each floor serves. One problem, though…would it hurt to show that you can transfer to the SL1 and SL2 on P1 as well? I mean, just a suggestion – seems like it’s important information.
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| Down on the Silver Line platform. |
To get to the Silver Line platform, you have your choice of stairs, escalators, or another elevator, glass this time. The Silver Line platform has a similar aesthetic to the Red Line one, except this time the ceilings and track (road?) divider are concrete, so it feels less dark. Again, there are benches, wastebaskets, and TV screens, but no countdown clocks.
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| Lots of people heading to the airport. |
Well, there are countdown clocks of another type: they have screens showing flight departures at Logan Airport! They even tell you when the next SL1 heading there is coming. The problem is that a lot of the time, at least one of the screens is frozen at some random time, but the sentiment is good. One day both screens shall work at the same time!
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| Well, it’s much quieter here where no one actually boards… |
Meanwhile on the “inbound” Silver Line platform, there are still amenities for people to wait. Could this be in preparation for the much-anticipated Silver Line Phase III that’s never ever going to happen? One rather nice feature is the presence of Red Line countdown clocks so passengers know if they have to run for the next train or, in the case of the photo above, crawl downstairs on their hands and knees and still have 3 minutes to spare.
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| A slice of the mezzanine. |
The station’s mezzanine curves all the way around fare control with multiple signs, maps, and fare machine locations around the gates. You’ve also got wastebaskets, ads, and newspaper boxes spread around. Finally, there’s a small convenience store that I believe is only open on weekdays – it’s near the ramp to the Commuter Rail.
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| An elevator down to rapid transit. |
That elevator looks pretty good, right? Looks like a lovely ride, doesn’t it? It’s even glass! It has to be great! But when we rode this one, it had such an awful smell. I don’t know why, and I don’t want to know why. All I knew was that I wanted to get off!
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| One of the rapid transit entrances. |
As grand as the station’s main building is, there’s something to be said about the interesting geometric structures leading to the rapid transit station. They’re clearly more modern constructions, built at the same time the Silver Line opened up in 2004. I like them a lot, and they make for a vibrant sight along the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
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| Ah, she’s a beauty! I’m not sure why that ambulance is parked up in front, though… |
Of course, nothing compares to the glorious South Station building. Built in 1899, it’s a Boston icon, full of amazing little architectural details. Just look how ornate it is! It’s seriously hard to describe in words, it’s just so…awesome. It’s also a really nice touch how the front doors just open automatically.
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| The SL4 stop. |
In lieu of Silver Line Phase III, we got the SL4, which runs from South Station to Dudley. It doesn’t board in the fancy underground station, though…no, it only gets the lame surface-level shelter. To get to it, you have to go a block south down Atlantic Ave, then turn onto Essex Street.
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| Looking in awkwardly. |
There isn’t much to it. You’ve got a bench within the shelter itself, as well as a second one outside it under an awning (the awning wasn’t helpful – the bench was wet). Inside the shelter, it’s very barebones, with just a fare validation machine (it was out of order at the time), a map in a small corner of a larger poster, and a countdown clock of dubious accuracy, although it seemed to be working fine when we were here. At least the shelter is heated!
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| Next to the main station. |
Alongside the main station, there’s a long concrete bench underneath the full name of the complex: the Michael S. Dukakis South Station Transportation Center. As you walk further down Atlantic Ave, there’s some nice foliage along the edge of the station property. Unfortunately, questionable people like to hang out along here, and I often find myself walking quickly past it all.
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| Never thought I’d see one of these here! |
What else is here? Well, for one thing, there’s a ramp leading up to one of the Commuter Rail platforms and the bus terminal, yet the sign for it claims it goes to the SL1 and SL2! Also, we’ve got a Pedal & Park cage, something I didn’t think would work at a downtown station (since most people would park their bike at an outer location and take the train in), but it was full!
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| What a grand sign! |
There are two entrances into the building itself from here. The first is, as a really nice-looking sign says, a doorway into the food court, which we’ll get to later. The other entrance is simply an open passage to the Commuter Rail platforms, from which passengers can enter the station proper. It’s also perfect to use if you’re going from a train to the SL4 if anyone…uh…ever does that…
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| Well, this is interesting. |
I never thought I would review a CVS on this blog, but there’s one in the station, so I guess I should. When you walk into the main entrance (you know, the awesome building), there are two separate entrances to the store! The first is a door to the right, and you come in on the ground floor, which is where most of the snacks are.
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| Floor number two! |
A staircase or a rather nice elevator takes you up to the second floor. Here is where you’ll find the items that you’re more likely to specifically seek a CVS for: household goods, arts and crafts, and more. The store is designed well on that front – the things that people will want in a hurry like snacks are on the first floor, while some of the more long-term CVS items are on the second floor.
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| Goodbye, CVS! |
Of course, the best part about the second floor is the view of the station. It’s a great place to hang out at rush hour, watching everyone scurry around to catch their trains. While we were admiring the view, a store employee reprimanded us for filming (in the weirdest and most passive-aggressive way possible, I might add) and asked us to leave the store. Oh well…we headed down the direct escalator that goes back to the main entrance, which is very convenient.
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| In all my years going to South Station, never have I actually noticed that that restaurant is there. |
But while I somehow spent three paragraphs talking about a CVS, there is more to talk about in the main entrance. Firstly, you’ve got three ATMs for three different banks: Citizens, Santander, and Bank of America. It’s an interesting place to put them, and I’m not entirely sure who they’re supposed to be for (after all, they’re rather far from the ticket offices to be helpful for train passengers), but it’s nice that they’re here. There’s also a sit-down Mexican restaurant called Tavitas whose existence I was completely unaware of until this review – in their own words, they’re “badass.”
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| We’re getting closer to the main station! |
There are even more businesses within this entrance, too! For one thing, you’ve got a tourist shop of sorts, selling Boston shirts and other trinkets. Meanwhile, on the other side of the CVS escalator, there’s a…cake shop? It’s called Delectable Desires, and it’s a little table that was unstaffed when we were here, but I am definitely intrigued at what it is and why the heck it’s here.
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| Time for the main station yet? Ha! Nope. |
A set of brochures stands at the the entrance down to the subway. Yes, South Station boasts a direct underground connection to rapid transit lines from its main station, which is awesome. The transfer is as simple as going down a set of stairs (or an escalator), then descending a ramp to get to the subway mezzanine. But what about if you need an elevator…?
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| Weird hallway time! |
Yes, in order to get to the elevator, you have to go down this strange hallway that doesn’t feel like people are supposed to go down it. First, I’ll briefly touch upon the room you pass through on the way: although there are tons of transfer passengers that pass through here on the way to the Red Line, the majority of the room is probably not seen or noticed. It has a wastebasket, an old “Mail Box Rentals” box-thing, and a store called “General Shoe and Luggage Repair” that seems a lot like the store in Downtown Crossing.
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| Is this…the right way? |
The hallway to the elevators feels weirder and weirder the further you go. At first, there are some framed historical certificates on the wall, and despite being printed in very low quality, they make things feel a little more inviting. But eventually the photos get replaced by weird black doors that are closed to the public.
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| Where are we? |
Finally, you arrive at the elevator, which has an awful exposed wall right next to it. As for the elevator itself, it’s an old and dingy affair, certainly not of the quality of some of the other elevators in this station. It accomplishes its goal of getting you to the main station, but it’s not an enjoyable experience!
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| The Amtrak Station Services office. |
In close proximity to the elevator in the main station is the Amtrak Station Services office. I don’t really know what it is or who it’s for, but it seems nice enough. Look, it has a lovely comfy chair in which to wait!
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| Main station yet? Nah! |
Before we can review the main station, we have to go to the bus terminal! Yes, continuing with the weird order of this review, we’ll be heading there now. To get there from the main building, you can go down Track 1, which has been in a constant state of construction since the beginning of time, and will probably continue to be until the end of time. A ramp leads down from the platform to the entrance of the terminal.
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| The building’s main entrance. |
There’s another entrance to the bus terminal, though, and that’s the main one. Once you walk a ways down Atlantic Ave, you find some foliage out front and the neat-looking building that houses the terminal. One highlight is the neon sign on the door, which feels very much like a classic bus terminal sign.
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| In the atrium. |
There’s not much in the station atrium, but it seems like some people hang out there anyway. Perhaps it would be a good idea to put some benches in and create a little waiting area. Behind some fancy potted plants, there are screens showing the arrivals and departures of different buses, and that’s about all that’s in here.
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| Going into the building proper. |
A set of stairs and an upward escalator leads up to the building. The first thing that comes up is a sign saying everything’s to the right, and straight ahead there’s…nothing much. Yeah, I’ve never understood the point of the room in front of that sign, but it’s there.
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| I love this hallway! |
Leading from the Room of No Purpose is the Cool-Looking Hallway of No Purpose. Sure, there isn’t much along it aside from some benches and potted plants, but you gotta admit that it’s a great-looking hallway. There is a security office at the start of it next to the Room of No Purpose, for what it’s worth.
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| Oh, classic! |
I have to give special mention to the map in this hallway, because it’s awesome. It shows every single coach bus route and train service (Commuter Rail and Amtrak) in Massachusetts and New England, and I love to just stare at it every time I walk through here. The added bonus is that it can’t be found anywhere online as far as I can tell, so this is the only place where you can look at the map (until now, that is).
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| The concourse! |
The hallway eventually opens up into the awesome concourse of the bus terminal. With its circular formation and skylight, this is a wonderful modern centerpiece for the facility. There isn’t much on the ground floor aside from some more plants and a kiosk selling various souvenirs and trinkets, but a set of stairs and escalators symmetrically lead up to the second level.
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| Some of the food offerings. |
The second floor is where all the action is. Flanked by some art pieces hanging from a third level, there are a few fast food options here for eating while you wait for the bus (McDonald’s and D’angelos). Seating is rather limited, though, with only a small area designated specifically for eating food – passengers could always opt to use benches or standing tables, though.
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| Inside the bathroom. |
Continuing around the circle, we arrive at the men’s room (don’t worry, there’s also a women’s room). Now, as a bathroom, it’s perfectly clean and modern for transportation standards, but the layout is very strange: the urinals are clustered in the middle of the room, with sinks on one side and toilets on the other. It’s an interesting design choice, for sure.
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| People waiting for their buses. |
We get a row of seats as we continue, one of the few designated waiting areas within the terminal. There’s also an elevator that takes passengers back down to the ground floor (and up – we’ll get to that later) and a row of payphones. Oh, and there’s a random bus platform directly from here. I guess they had to fit as many as they could into the terminal.
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| The quieter ticket-selling area. |
The ticket areas of the bus terminal are split into two sectors: the normal one and the crazy one. The normal one is where many of South Station’s smaller bus companies are located, such as Boston Express, Concord Coach Lines, and Lucky Star. The crazy one houses Peter Pan and Greyhound, and it’s almost always a mess, despite some self-service ticket machines in an attempt to shorten the lines.
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| Speaking of messes… |
I’m sure if one visited the bus boarding area at 3 AM, it would be a wonderful place: a wide, long hallway with clear berth signage, sleek modern architecture, and plenty of available seats. Unfortunately, if you come at any other time, it’s a flurry of activity, angry passengers, and harried bus company representatives trying to calm them down. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was like that at 3 AM!
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| Going into the elevator. |
Okay, time to take the elevator up! Although these elevators aren’t glass (aside from a little window at the door), they’re perfectly normal and clean. Now, most people are going to use these to get between the main hallway and the second floor of the concourse, but there’s another place you can go. A place most people probably don’t know exists…
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| Uhh…wait, this isn’t the exciting part yet. |
Travelling up to the fifth floor of the bus terminal, we arrive at a weird little waiting area. There’s actually a bench up here for some reason – perhaps it’s for people waiting for service at Package Express? Because yes, there’s also a Greyhound Package Express up here. I don’t even know what it is, really, but from what I can gather, it’s some sort of mailing service. So I guess if you want to ship something via Package Express, the fifth floor of the South Station Bus Terminal is the place to go.
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| Here’s the exciting part! |
Before I reviewed this station with a bunch of other people (and thanks to them for coming along), Sam and I did a quick scout of it the night before. And on that Sunday night, we ended up on the roof of the station and its parking lot for the first time, and it was amazing. The view of the city and the station was unique and unparalleled, and there was no one up there.
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| Looks like it’s full. |
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| The fun way down. |
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| Lots of activity in the food court. |
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| What is it with this station and out-of-the-way elevators? |
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| Made it! |
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| Totally not trying to prolong our look at the main station for as long as possible… |
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| The station…from above. |
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| Da big board! |
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| A few of the food options within the station. |
It’s funny how the station’s food court could easily go unnoticed, because there are plenty of food options right here in the main hall! You’ve got an Au Bon Pain, a frozen yogurt place, and the obligatory Dunks, among others. There are even tables at which to eat right here! Who needs the food court mezzanine?
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| Sorry that a lot of these photos are kinda blurry… |
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| The line of schedules underneath the departure board. |
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| Martin’s News Shops. |
Yet another South Station business whose existence I was unaware of until this review is Pret a Manger. Yeah, apparently I like to walk through the main station really quickly! Another aspect to the station that I only discovered as my family was racing for an Amtrak train on Saturday is more seating in the form of tables to the left of the center aisle. I thought these were new when I saw them, but nope, they’ve always been here. Clearly I never paid attention to anything in here before reviewing it!
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| Get some reading material for your train ride! |
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| Some stuff alongside the ticket halls. |
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| Wowie! |
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| The information desk. |
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| And all of a sudden, it’s quiet. |
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| The very important bus stop! |
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| A secret passageway! |
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| The main platform area. |
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| Deep in the bowels of one of the platforms. |
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| A blurry view of Track 11. |
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| Track 13, located in the Cave of the Winds. |
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| OH HELL NO!!!!!!!!! |
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| We ascend! |
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| Gather around the ol’ TV. |
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| More seating. |
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| The “business” section of the lounge. |
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| This has to be the record for most bathrooms visited in a review! |
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| Hey, people are actually here! |
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| Yummy. |
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| Some of the drink offerings. |
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| Take me out of here, I’ve been writing for far too long! |
Cons: Most of my cons come in the form of niggling little complaints that you saw throughout the review, so I’ll try to only put the really big ones here. First and foremost, it would be great to see the Red Line platform get a little light. Yes, it’s clean, but I’ve always thought it’s far too dark – even some stronger lights could improve the waiting experience there. Also, the elevator from the rail station to rapid transit is…uh…pretty awful. It wouldn’t be easy to fix and it works fine all things considered, but boy, it’s a real pain to use. Finally, while I do think the connection is straightforward once you figure it out, a better way of getting to the bus terminal would be much appreciated. It feels isolated from the rest of the station, and some sort of walkway would feel a lot more welcoming. I mean, at least take the darn construction stuff away from Platform 1! Or make the platform an enclosed passage, that would work too…
Nearby and Noteworthy: Sure, we might be downtown and there are plenty of attractions around here, but apparently the station itself is an attraction, too! Did you know that tours are offered here? I mean, I don’t know why you would need one after toiling over this far-too-comprehensive review, but hey, it’s there! It seems to touch a lot upon the interesting history of the station.
Final Verdict: 8/10
And that’s it. That’s South Station. 8 out of 10. The final station on the T.
Wait, woah. The final station on the T. That’s it.
Oh my gosh, I’ve really done it. Every bus route. Every subway station.
Woah.
Thank you so much for reading, whether it’s been for all five years or you just found the blog recently. Every single person who’s read, commented, or sent me a guest post has been instrumental in keeping this blog going and keeping me engaged to do what I love. And even though this is the last station, we still have lots of Commuter Rail stations to do and even more regional bus routes! Even if you’re not interested in that stuff, I strongly encourage you to read a few posts and see if you like them. The Commuter Rail gave us the wonderful Hastings, after all. Otherwise, thanks for reading however much you read, and I hope that each and every one of you has an amazing day. Happy riding!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
I’m just gonna give some alphabetized special thanks here that you don’t have to read, but I just wanted to put in because these people mean a lot to me…
- Jaret, you only started coming along on our last few journeys, but you’re such a great person to have around – you always have something intelligent or humorous to say. Sorry for making you get up early to do the 195!
- Jordan, thanks for stealing the show in each and every video review you appear in! No, but seriously, you’re such an insanely funny person and an absolute joy to go on trips with. Long live the King!
- Josh, you always bring your unique viewpoints and humor to any trip. You’ve managed to convince me that suburbs aren’t the worst thing in the universe, which is a huge achievement. Also, thanks for ruining my vocabulary forever, b o i! No, seriously, you’re awesome.
- Nathan, I couldn’t have done half of my RTA reviews without your crazy ideas. You always know where you’re going and you’re one of the smartest and wittiest people I’ve ever met. We’ve survived some of the weirdest situations ever, and I can’t wait to go through more!
- Sam, thank you so much for always being there to publish a post at the last minute when I don’t have access to a computer. You’ve taught me so much about how the MBTA works, and I know you’ll be an amazing planner one day – heck, you already are!
- Uillia, I don’t know you too well, but from what I’ve seen, you’re an incredibly smart and friendly person. I couldn’t have done the ClubAcela Lounge without your help.
- Zof-Zof…thanks for dealing with me talking about buses all the time. Sorry!
CATA: Purple Line (Gloucester – West Gloucester – Essex Town Line)
It turns out that “Essex Town Line” means exactly that: this route starts right at the border between Essex and Gloucester. There’s not even a signed stop or a proper loop! The bus literally just bangs a u-turn in the middle of Eastern Ave and comes straight back. Let’s flag down the Purple Line, I guess.
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| The bus after performing its loop. |
Well gosh, the biggest characteristic of the Purple Line is that it is just nonstop speed. We sailed down Essex Ave past woods and sparse houses as fast as was possible on the twisty road! And there really wasn’t much else – we passed a church at one point, and there was a self-storage facility just before we went under Route 128, but that was about it for variety.
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| Whizzing by the church. |
We just kept on truckin’. There was a short marsh view just before we passed West Gloucester Station, but though the houses got a little denser after that, it still wasn’t enough to support even a single passenger. Finally, we passed some businesses amidst a sudden marsh, and we merged with Western Ave. This went along the water, and at this point I got off the bus in order to catch the Stage Fort Park Trolley.
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| Don’t worry, I got off very close to the end of the route. |
CATA Route: Purple Line (Gloucester – West Gloucester – Essex Town Line)
Ridership: HA! Yeah, weekday ridership is 24 riders and Saturday ridership is 11. And I’ll bet the only reason weekday ridership is so “high” is because of the route’s school trips, which do get pretty busy from what I’ve seen. This is so abysmally low it’s amazing to think that CATA’s been running this route for years.
Pros: It serves West Gloucester! Not that they really need it…
Cons: Oh come on, why should this route exist outside of school trips? It only runs three times per weekday and four times per Saturday – it’s not exactly an easy schedule to plan your day around! What’s the deal with the weekday schedule, anyway? One of the three trips is at 5:49 AM and it only runs from Gloucester to West Gloucester Station before turning around. Are people actually using that??? There’s not even a return trip in the evening rush – the last one is at 4! Also, just for funsies, did you know that the route has a fare recovery ratio of 3%, and its subsidies are $20.49 and $34.50 per passenger on weekdays and Saturdays, respectively? Wow, CATA is killing themselves by running this thing!
Nearby and Noteworthy: I don’t mean this lightly: this route serves absolutely nothing of interest. It’s almost all houses.
Final Verdict: 1/10
Okay, even CATA admits that this should be reduced to school trips! That’s the only time when it gets any sort of meaningful ridership, and the only time it should run. It could easily be replaced by a call-in service that’s open to anyone, because then buses would only need to head out there when they need to. Gosh, this is such a stupid route!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Something bigger and much more important is coming out tomorrow, the blog’s fifth anniversary. I wonder what it could be…
CATA: Purple Line (SEASONAL: Ipswich – Essex – Crane Beach)
Reviewing a summer-only route in January…great. The Ipswich-Essex Explorer (say it three times fast!) is Ipswich’s summer shuttle to Crane Beach, and that’s where 99% of the riders take it. Of course, being the stickler I am, I had to get one of the three trips per day that also goes to Essex! So there I was waiting for the bus at Ipswich Station at 12:30 PM.
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| I am so sick of these types of buses… |
A bus pulled in at around 12:20 and I asked the driver if he was going to Essex. He said no, I should wait for the other bus. See, the Ipswich-Essex Explorer technically has a schedule, but on “favorable beach days” they add a second bus and the schedule goes out the window. I waited some more until a second bus pulled in.
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| These buses are just so ugly! |
[I step onto the bus.]
DRIVER: I can promise you that this is not the bus you want.
ME: It is, I’m going to Essex.
DRIVER: Well, then, let’s get your fare paid!
[Long exchange as driver attempts to decipher the overly-complicated fare system. Eventually we figure out how to get a fare to Essex paid on a CharlieCard. Once this is done, I sit down.]
DRIVER: Cambridge!
ME: What?
DRIVER: Do you remember me?
ME: Uhhhh…
DRIVER: I drove you on the Beverly Shuttle last week!
ME: Oh wow, good to see you again!
Yes, my bus was being driven by the awesome driver from the Beverly Shuttle. Great! Also, his opening line definitely says something about how much traffic this route gets going to Essex…
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| “Let’s get out of here,” the driver said as we left the station. |
We headed down Peatfield Street, then we turned onto Estes Street. This was basically just a loop in a residential neighborhood in order to get out of the station and onto Market Street, the heart of downtown Ipswich. There were charming small businesses everywhere!
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| I miss all the greenery of summer… |
We turned onto Main Street next, which took us over the Ipswich River and past a few more businesses. As it curved eastward, though, there were a few museums and historical houses before it just got plain ol’ residential as it went southward and became County Street. However, we went straight by Argilla Road, which the route is supposed to turn onto to go to Crane Beach.
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| Hey, we’re missing our turn! |
ME: Are we not going to Crane Beach?
DRIVER: No, we’re going to Essex.
ME: Isn’t the route supposed to go to Crane Beach?
DRIVER: The other bus went to Crane Beach!
ME: Oh, okay.
DRIVER: Do you want to go to Crane Beach?
ME: I mean, it would be great for the review.
DRIVER: [name of passenger], do you mind if we go up to Crane Beach?
PASSENGER: Nope, as long as we get to Wolf Hollow in time.
DRIVER: Okay, Miles, you’ve got yourself a deal, you crazy kid!
And thus, we turned around and backtracked to Argilla Road. Like I said, awesome driver!
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| Coming out of the YMCA we used to turn around. |
We got to Argilla Road by using Ward and Linden Streets, small residential roads. Now on Argilla, we sped through a lot of woods with many houses hidden behind driveways. It eventually got more marshy, and there was a section of practically nothing except for the Ascot Riding Center, a horse riding school (whose most talented rider I know personally – you know who you are!).
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| What a beautiful day! |
Soon the immediate surroundings around Argilla Road got woodsy again, but there was marshland beyond the layer of hidden houses. We also went by Russell Orchards, a public farm that gets its own Ipswich-Essex Explorer stop. For a while after that, though, it was pure forest until we finally broke into marshland again.
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| More marshes. |
We passed roads leading to a big public mansion called Castle Hill, and things started to get a lot sandier after that. After going past the “guardhouse” of the beach, where drivers pay their entrance fee, we navigated through the parking lot and pulled up right at the pedestrian entrance. The other bus was sitting there and the drivers had a brief conversation about how crazy I am, then we looped around back onto Argilla Road and headed out.
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| A lone coach bus. |
We took Argilla Road all the way back to County Road, onto which we turned again. We came back to that YMCA and the various housing developments around it, and at that point we merged onto Essex Road. This quickly grew residential, but there was also a garden center and a golf course to break up the sparse houses.
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| “Parking lot full”? Not if you take the bus, baby! |
We arrived at Wolf Hollow, where the one passenger disembarked. From there, we continued down the road, which became John Wise Ave when we entered Essex. It was still mostly just sparse houses interspersed with huge amounts of marshland, aside from a golf course and a few businesses here and there.
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| Cows! |
Eventually the road became Main Street and the houses got a heck of a lot denser and more historical. We were now in “Essex Center” for what it’s worth, although it’s mostly just a bunch of antique shops and the Shipbuilding Museum. Once Main Street became an isthmus in the middle of a bunch of marshland, we went by a few restaurants, including the famous Woodman’s, which gets special recognition on the route map.
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| Going over a bridge in Essex. |
Once we reached the end of the Essex route a little past Woodman’s, I told the driver about how I was planning on catching the (other) Purple Line at Essex Town Line 1.6 miles away. I had 18 minutes to somehow walk/run that distance. “You’ll do it in 12!” the driver proclaimed as I stepped off the bus. And after huffing and puffing my way down Eastern Ave, I reached Essex Town Line and checked my watch: it had indeed taken 12 minutes.
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| Thank you for your inspiration! |
CATA Route: Purple Line (SEASONAL: Ipswich – Essex – Crane Beach)
Ridership: Considering how many trips it gets per day, the Ipswich-Essex Explorer gets pretty good ridership. The weekends-only seasonal shuttle gets about 150 people per Saturday and 210 per Sunday. I think I rode it on a slow day, because even the Crane Beach bus only had four passengers, but I’ve heard that the route can get a full-seated load or even standees.
Pros: As centrally located as it is, Ipswich Station is unfortunately quite far from the town’s biggest draw, Crane Beach. As such, this is the perfect connector to get between the station and the beach. It times very well with trains for the most part, at least in the outbound direction. It also serves a variety of other attractions along the way, even timing with Wolf Hollow presentations. The fare for Crane Beach is $5.00, which seems steep at first, but it’s actually not bad: it includes the $2.00 admission fee and it’s round-trip, so you’re really just paying $1.50 in each direction. Finally, this thing has great advertising – I’m sure you’ve seen one of its posters on the subway!
Cons: Someone needs to figure out how to program this into the fareboxes better, because it’s apparently very hard to set up! Anyway, what else is there? The inbound trips time horribly with Commuter Rail trains: for two out of three of the afternoon inbound trips, passengers have to wait over 40 minutes at Ipswich Station for a train! I’m sure this is better on beach days when there are two buses running, as they probably time it better, but the lack of information about this for the passenger is astounding and a big turn-off for the route, I think.
Nearby and Noteworthy: There’s plenty, although I think the biggest draw is Crane Beach by far. Who’s going to take the bus to Essex? There’s a reason it only runs there three times a day.
Final Verdict: 6/10
This is a fine summer shuttle, but it could be better. I have confidence that the route can make it to the station on time when it’s running with two vehicles, but to a passenger looking at the schedule, it appears that there’s absolutely no way of timing with trains. That’s such a problem for the attractiveness of the route! It’s a big drawback for ridership.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
CATA: Yellow Line (City of Beverly Shuttle)
Who knew Beverly had its own circulator route? And who knew it costs a mere 50 cents to ride, or 25 cents for seniors and people with disabilities? It has an 8 dollar monthly pass! Of course, to get where you want to go on the Yellow Line, you have to sit through a lot of deviations…
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| The bus at its layover point at Beverly City Hall. |
The second I stepped on the bus at Beverly Station (where it flew around the corner and I sprinted up to it), I was introduced to a very kind and talkative driver. A melting pot of quips and dad jokes, he made this abysmal ride a lot easier to stomach, and his interactions with the passengers (and their interactions with each other) were interesting to observe. This is one of those routes whose clientele could have their own sitcom based on the nature of their banter.
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| Coming off of Edwards Street. |
We immediately turned onto Railroad Ave, then Rantoul Street, which was lined with multi-story apartment buildings. Next, we turned onto the narrow Edwards Street, then Cabot Street, the main drag of Beverly. It was residential at first with dense houses on both sides, but before we could enter downtown Beverly, we turned onto Central Street. This was a deviation from what the route is supposed to do, and it involved looping through a residential neighborhood (via Lovett and Thorndike Streets) in order to pull up to City Hall from the side and lay over.
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| This isn’t right! |
With that out of the way, we could return to the regular route on Cabot Street, which was now lined with the charming buildings and businesses of downtown Beverly. The further we got, though, the more they started to thin out, and eventually it was once again a residential neighborhood. Soon the street curved west and there was suburban retail around a level crossing with the Rockport Line.
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| A shopping plaza. |
We turned onto Colon Street for a block before merging onto Sohier Road. This was only for a deviation to serve Garden City Towers, an apartment building whose parking lot we looped around before returning to Cabot Street. There were more suburban businesses for a bit, but it soon got residential.
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| A school bus on a residential street. |
We turned onto Balch Street and after a level crossing with the Commuter Rail, we passed a few schools and the northern edge of the Cummings Center complex, then we turned onto McKay Street outside of a golf course. The houses were definitely getting more spread out now, although there were some suburban businesses as we looped back around onto Cabot Street.
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| A busy gas station. |
Coming back down Cabot Street, there were some churches, another school, a huge construction site, and more houses. We had another Commuter Rail level crossing before joining up with an earlier part of the route for a block. Once again we left Cabot Street, though, this time on Herrick Street, which led us past the huge Beverly High School and some more dense houses.
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| Oh boy, deviation time! |
After a few housing developments, we headed into the huge Beverly Hospital. Once that deviation was completed, we came back onto Herrick Street for a bit before turning onto Brimbal Ave. This street was a whole lot of suburban houses, and they continued as we turned onto Essex Street (although Essex had a few weird office parks, too).
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| Turning onto the foggy Brimbal Ave. |
It started to get more woodsy, and just before the road went over Route 128, we turned into the Centerville Woods Complex. This was basically just a series of apartment buildings, and we looped around them before coming back onto Essex and…going back the way we came for quite a while. Oh boy, it was all a deviation!
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| Coming out of the complex. |
Finally, outside of a pond, we continued to new territory again. After going by a small shopping plaza, we passed Montserrat Station and its awful mini-high platforms, then it got residential along Essex Street. After a while of going past dense houses, we looped around a small apartment development…then it turned out that all that had been a deviation, too!
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| Inside the Cedar Street Apartments. |
So we went all the way back up to Montserrat and turned onto Colon Street. This took us past the Beverly Council on Aging (for some reason we didn’t deviate!) and a few industrial buildings, as well as a whole bunch of houses. There were some suburban businesses when we turned onto Cabot Street yet again, but it was only for a block to get over the Commuter Rail – once we had done that, we turned onto Rantoul Street.
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| This is, incidentally, our third time at this intersection. |
This was a mix of suburban business and houses, and they continued as we turned onto Eliott Street, which had level crossings with both the Newburyport and Rockport Lines. Once that was done, we had a double-deviation: first, we went into the Cummings Center complex, which the MBTA 451 also does, funnily enough; after that, we headed across the street to deviate into a Stop & Shop.
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| About to head into the Cummings Center. |
We returned to Eliott Street, going right alongside the Bass River, as well as some businesses and the Beverly School for the Deaf. After those places, it got residential – we were just sailing past a bunch of houses. Finally, we entered Danvers very briefly to serve a few businesses. Right after we crossed the border, it was a left on Bridge Street and we headed right back into Beverly.
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| Hi, Danvers! Bye, Danvers! |
It was mostly residential along Bridge Street too, but there was the occasional business that came up. Finally, we went over the street’s namesake: a bridge crossing the Bass River. It was pretty industrial on the other side, but there were some businesses and apartments when we made our way over to Rantoul Street via River Street and Federal Street. Finally, we turned onto Broadway, taking us back to Beverly Station where we had started.
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| The minibus continuing its never-ending loop. |
Okay…here’s the thing. At one point on the trip, the driver told me I should try taking the route’s Saturday morning variation. He said it’s really scenic and an awesome ride. I didn’t think I would take him up it…except then I did. Well, why not?
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| Okay, wow, wasn’t expecting that. |
On Saturday mornings, the shuttle takes an almost completely different route, including three express sections and a bunch more deviations. Also…apparently it uses a full-sized bus????? This is because it doesn’t go over the Bridge Street bridge on the Saturday variant, so a driver can take a proper bus if they want to. Not only was the bus on my Saturday a full-sized vehicle, but it was one of the CATA’s newest ones, and it was really nice inside.
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| It’s so weird being on a minibus route in…this. |
The start of the Saturday route is similar to the weekday one. We made our way around to Cabot Street via Edwards Street, and this time we didn’t do the unofficial City Hall deviation. Instead of going up to Garden City Towers, we went right onto Eliott Street. Again, we performed the double-deviation of Cummings Center and Stop & Shop, then we went out past the many houses of Eliott Street.
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| Inside the Cummings Center. |
Here’s where things got different: we turned onto County Way suddenly, which was a side street lined with houses. At the end of that, we turned onto Bridge Street, but in the direction of Danvers – were we looping around back to Eliott Street to avoid using the bridge? Well, we did turn onto Eliott again…but we took it further into Danvers. Alright, that’s unexpected.
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| A field, I guess? |
It continued to be mostly residential, but there was a proper farm on one side street, so we were leaving civilization to some degree. And then, out of nowhere, we whizzed onto Route 128. That’s right, it was the first of three express sections, and it was weird. I mean, sure, my first-ever CATA review (and my first RTA review, no less), coincidentally of a different Yellow Line service, had a lengthy express section, but that was different. This is a deviatory loop-de-loop; that was a designated express service.
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| Of all the exits to take, we do the weird sideways one! |
We were only on the highway for a bit, getting off at the next exit. This took us onto Trask Lane, a curvy road lined exclusively with random apartment developments. It became Manor Road, and we looped around at the last development on it, Apple Village. And from there, it was straight back up to the highway! Express section number 2!
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| Inside one of the developments. |
Once again, it was just for one exit, and we got off at the next one, 20. This led us onto Dodge Street, which we used to deviate into a Shaw’s (although there were plenty of other businesses in its plaza too). We went the other way down Dodge Street from there, going under the highway and arriving at an intersection with suburban businesses. Once we merged onto County Way, then McKay Street, we were back on the weekday route, except we were travelling down it the wrong way.
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| Another turn. |
We turned onto Balch Street next, going by the north side of the Cummings Center, then we briefly headed down Cabot Street before turning onto Herrick Street. This took us past the Beverly High School, then we deviated into the Beverly Hospital – this was all stuff the weekday route does, too. We made our way over to Brimbal Ave and turned onto Essex Street, which was all previously charted territory.
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| Looking down Herrick Street. |
We took Essex Street up to the Centerville Woods Complex, which the weekday route also serves. However, whereas on weekdays the buses go back down Essex Street, on Saturdays – and keep in mind, this is Saturday mornings only – there’s another express section! That’s right, we went back onto Route 128, although it was once again just one exit.
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| Going down the highway. |
Of all the towns to have a bus route, we actually entered Wenham for a short stretch. It didn’t last long, though – once we got off at Exit 17 and went down Hart Street, we were back in Beverly. This was a twisty street than ran through the woods past some pretty sparse houses.
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| Coming off of Route 128. |
Around the time we went by a cemetery, the dwellings started to get closer together. We turned onto Hale Street where the pattern continued, and finally, we went by the beautiful village of Beverly Farms! We didn’t go down its main drag, though, continuing down Hale and crossing the Commuter Rail tracks at, yes, Prides Crossing Station. Told you it had a bus connection!
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| Going over the tracks. |
After the station it became woods and sparse houses again until we hit Endicott College. This part was awesome: there were college buildings everywhere, and we even came up to the water for a few short moments. It was a fantastic view!
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| Wowie! |
Although we sadly curved inland, Endicott College buildings continued for a little while longer before we suddenly entered a residential neighborhood. Hale Street twisted its way past lots of dense houses which continued as we turned onto Corning Street. This took us to good ol’ Montserrat Station, where we turned onto Essex Street, joining the weekday route again.
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| About to head onto Essex Street. |
It wasn’t for long, though – after deviating into the Cedar Street Apartments, the route would normally go back up Essex to Montserrat, but we actually continued the way we were going. It was entirely residential until the Beverly Public Library, where we turned onto Dane Street. This took us back to Cabot Street, and now we went up to Garden City Towers. It’s so weird how on weekdays that’s one of the first deviations while on Saturdays it’s one of the last!
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| Coming out of Garden City. |
It was the home stretch. We headed down Rantoul Street, passing a mix of businesses and dense houses. As we got further south, there started to be more retail in the mix, and everything was getting closer together. Finally, we turned onto Broadway and pulled up at the Commuter Rail station. Wow, I made this review way longer than it had to be!
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| It’s still weird that you’re a full-sized bus! |
CATA Route: Yellow Line (City of Beverly Shuttle)
Ridership: The route is the fourth-busiest one on the CATA, except…wow, I’ve reviewed some CATA routes before but I don’t think I ever realized how few people use this system. So yes, the fourth-busiest route on the whole system gets about 60 people per weekday and around 40 per Saturday. Ouch.
Pros: The best thing about this route is the fares. I mean, my gosh, the majority of this route’s riders are seniors, and they only have to pay a quarter! I don’t know who would get a monthly pass for this, but if you want to, they’re only 8 bucks! So yes, the fares, those are very good. Also, the weekday schedule is hourly, which is fine.
Cons: Before I talk about the route itself, let me just run some numbers by you. This route has the lowest productivity on the CATA, with 6.1 passengers per weekday revenue hour (so per trip, basically, since this route has hourly headways) and 4.4 per Saturday revenue hour. Because of the incredibly low fares, the route has a subsidy of $26.06 per passenger on weekdays and $36.10 per passenger on Saturdays. GEEZ LOUISE, the City of Beverly had better give CATA bucket loads of money for making it keep the fares so low!
And now we get to the route itself. The crazy, insane, loopy route itself, that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. How is a one-way loop expected to be useful and efficient for people to use? Why do there have to be so many crazy deviations? Why is the Saturday service completely different, and even more different for the first three trips? Why do the first three Saturday trips even bother to go out to Beverly Farms and Endicott College when from what I saw, those sections don’t get a soul? Why is there an “early morning” weekday trip at 6:45 (that takes a completely different route, I might add), presumably for commuters, when the last trip from the station is at 3:52 PM? SIGH.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I would argue that this route doesn’t serve much of note that’s not already accessible from the Commuter Rail. I mean, with five stops in the town, it already has great coverage, and they serve the most interesting parts of the city.
Final Verdict: 3/10
This route sucks. As I’ve made clear, there are so many things about it that make absolutely no sense, and I think CATA is aware of this. They say in their Transit Plan, and I quote, “Cannot change service per contract with City of Beverly, but a split route with bidirectional service would better serve the city’s needs.” It’s like they know what a better route would be, and they might even have a plan for what they want to do, and yet they can’t do anything. They’re contractually obligated to run this horrible, horrible service. CATA, I am so sorry.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Here’s another T blog called Alex to a T, about a kid and his mom visiting all the stations on the subway in alphabetical order! It’s well-written and interesting, and I recommend you give it a look.
Rockport
The final stop on the Rockport Line, and its namesake! What kind of epic terminal station does it have? Is it full of amazing amenities? No? Well, okay then…
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| The parking lot. |
Rockport has a strange layout. The parking lot has 88 free (!) spaces, and it wraps around the small siding tracks for Commuter Rail trains. Plus, the whole station complex is in such a weird place, situated between a bunch of different shopping plazas.
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| Two trains squeezed into the station. |
A narrow pedestrian walkway comes around the side of a Dunkin’ Donuts into the station. On the way out there’s a nice sign showing the various walking routes to downtown Rockport, but once we get to the platform, it just becomes…ew. It’s a narrow and short affair with a flimsy shelter overhead and a single bench and wastebasket stuffed underneath amidst a sea of newspaper boxes. It leads up to a mini-high platform with one more bench, and though there’s actually a short low-level section past the mini-high, there’s nothing on it except for a bike rack. And yeah…that’s about it for Rockport.
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| Up on the mini-high. |
Station: Rockport
Ridership: Despite being the namesake of the line it’s on, Rockport is only the third-busiest station on it. On the average weekday it gets 323 riders, although I’m sure ridership goes up quite a bit during the summer.
Pros: The station is accessible and the mini-high actually has a bench on it, which is a plus. There’s a good amount of parking, considering that the surrounding area is so dense with homes. And speaking of the area, this station is in a great location, with downtown Rockport less than a fifteen-minute walk away.
Cons: I don’t like how compact the whole thing is. The platform is just squeezed between the track and the parking lot, and the parking lot is squeezed around two more tracks for storage, and the whole complex is squeezed between random shopping plazas! I know Rockport is a dense historical town, but this station feels claustrophobic.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Rockport, obviously! It has a great downtown area with lots of historical buildings and small businesses, as well as a few small beaches. The train is a very convenient way to get up here.
Final Verdict: 6/10
It’s fine, I guess. I mean, this is one of the better mini-high platforms on the Newburyport/Rockport Lines, which is sad to say. The whole place is cramped and haphazard, but it’s more or less the only option given the surrounding area. All of Rockport’s faults are explainable, but it doesn’t make the station any better.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Manchester
I was gonna do the Beverly Farms/Prides Crossing combo during the morning rush one day in the summer, but nope – the conductor decided to just skip Beverly Farms, which is a flag stop, without asking anyone if they were getting off there. I ended up at Manchester instead with only a few minutes to do the fastest, worst review I’ve ever made of a station – I had to use a lot of Google Maps to help me with this one.
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| Hurry up hurry up hurry up! |
Oh great, it’s another station with degenerate mini-highs. They have nothing on them, and that’s all I have to say. They’re not falling apart, which I guess is a plus. This station apparently has 71 parking spaces – I think they might be in that decrepit-looking lot to the left in the picture above, but I could be wrong. Either way, it’s free parking, so I guess the quality of the lot can be excused to some degree. There’s also a bike rack on either platform.
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| Looking down the foggy platform. |
Manchester actually has shelters on both of its platforms, which is great. In fact, the outbound side gets a larger one than the inbound side! It’s wooden, and it’s not in the best shape at this point, and it probably doesn’t have to be there, but I guess it’s nice. The inbound platform, meanwhile, gets a lot of unsheltered benches and a single glorified bus shelter with nothing under it. Aw…
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| Wait, uhhhh, EXCUSE ME? |
Now, despite Manchester being between two level crossings, they do not go down when the train is stopped. Why’s that? Because the train has to stop for them whenever it leaves the station. That’s right, there are actually stop signs for each level crossing, and the train has to sit there and wait for them to go down. This just baffles me – is there seriously no way the level crossing can lower as the train is leaving so it doesn’t have to stop?
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| Get outta here! |
Station: Manchester
Ridership: Normal ridership at Manchester is average for the Rockport Line, with 307 inbound riders per weekday. However, in the summer, that number spikes up a lot with people going to the beach.
Pros: It’s accessible, it has free parking, and it’s in a very good location as we’ll soon see. That’s about all that’s good about it, though.
Cons: I really must complain about the shelter situation. So the outbound side gets the big wooden shelter with benches under it, while all the inbound side gets is a little hut with nothing under it? Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Did I mention the station gets packed in the summer? Also, it goes without saying, but the mini-highs are barebones and negatively affect the waiting experience for passengers. Finally, the level crossing situation is awful, and I would be very surprised if modern gates don’t have the ability to allow trains to go through without stopping. Perhaps a renovation is needed.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The station is located right in downtown Manchester, which in itself looks like a lovely place, but that’s not why it’s in a good location. No, Manchester’s true ace in the hole is that it’s about a ten-minute walk from Singing Beach. That is a huge draw for it in the warmer months!
Final Verdict: 5/10
Okay, okay, the station is really a 4, but I’ll throw in an extra point because it’s so close to the beach. Seriously, though, this is not the kind of place summer passengers should be forced to wait at, let alone commuter passengers! At least put a bench under the tiny inbound shelter! Or heck, how about renovating the mini-highs and giving them shelter and a bench? Geez Louise, and the level crossings…don’t get me started.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Beverly Farms
A mere 0.8 miles away from Prides Crossing, we have a station that actually gets, you know, service. What does Beverly Farms have to offer over its microstation cousin? We’ll find out.
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| The platform. |
Okay, the outbound side of Beverly Farms has basically nothing, so we don’t have to talk about it. Meanwhile, the inbound side surprisingly has a lot in common with Prides Crossing. Most of it is bare, but the part that’s sheltered is done so by the station building, which is occupied by a private business (Boston Bagel Company) that owns most of the parking! Wow, that’s freakishly similar.
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| I see those mini-highs! We’ll get to those… |
Under the shelter there are benches, a wastebasket, and a community board. Moving down the platform, there isn’t much until the mini-highs aside from a small bike rack. The mini-high platforms are completely bare, but in their defense, they aren’t falling apart! They still suck, though. Finally, though most of the parking is for bagel patrons only, there are apparently 25 spaces reserved for the Commuter Rail, and I’m pretty sure they’re free. It’s not a lot, but it’s something!
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| A closer look at the mini-highs (my train picture was awful). |
Station: Beverly Farms
Ridership: This station gets low ridership, with only 207 inbound riders per weekday. It’s too bad, because the area around here is so nice!
Pros: Honestly, this is kinda like the better version of Prides Crossing. It has two platforms, it has actual mini-highs, there’s a bit of station parking for both cars and bikes, and though I have nothing against Prides Crossing Confections, Boston Bagel Company seems like a much better business for morning commuters.
Cons: It’s a pretty barebones station, especially with the unsheltered mini-highs with nothing on them – “at least they’re not falling apart” is not an argument that helps them out. It also looks to me like there could be more room for commuter parking, but I could be wrong. Regardless, there isn’t much of it. Finally, it’s weird that Beverly Farms is in Zone 5 when it’s in the same town as Zone 4 stations.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Wow, apparently the village of Beverly Farms is awesome! It has such diverse and charming buildings, and there are so many varied small businesses! Heck, even the Dunkin’ Donuts had some character, but don’t get your coffee there – use its local competitor, Half Baked. Gosh, there’s even a book shop!
Final Verdict: 6/10
Despite the awesome town center right next to it, the station of Beverly Farms isn’t the best. The mini-highs subtract points, as do the limited parking spaces. It’s not lacking in character, but imagine how much more it could have with nice wooden sheltered mini-high platforms! It also doesn’t have the Democrat and Republican benches of Prides Crossing, which, let’s be real, are more iconic than anything Beverly Farms has to offer.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Montserrat
Wow, I totally forgot to post this after North Beverly, but anyway…this is going in reverse from what I actually did one summer day, but I walked from Montserrat to North Beverly in half an hour! Who knew they were within somewhat close walking distance?
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| Well, here we are. |
Okay, Montserrat’s platform is pretty barebones. The inbound side is basically just a “modern” Commuter Rail shelter, and that’s about it. There’s practically nothing on the outbound side aside from a few newspaper boxes and a wastebasket, although it does inexplicably continue past the level crossing with Spring Street! I don’t know why the heck that’s the case, but if you want to be unique and wait on the other side of a level crossing, you can.
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| Oh, come on! |
I’ll just briefly mention Montserrat’s parking lot, which is pretty small with just 117 spaces. I will say that it’s nice they were able to even fit a lot in the middle of this residential neighborhood, so we’ll take what we can get. Oh, also, the station mini-highs are awful. They’re not quite as decrepit as North Beverly’s, but they’re close and they still have nothing on them.
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| Heading off into the foggy abyss. |
Station: Montserrat
Ridership: Wow…did you guys know that this is the second-busiest station on the whole independent section of the Rockport Line? Yeah, only Gloucester has higher ridership that this weird little station in the middle of a residential area. So, how many people per day does the second-busiest station on the Rockport Line get? Oh…356. Okay, clearly the Rockport Line gets less ridership than I realized.
Pros: It has your basic amenities, and there isn’t much more you need platform-wise than the shelter on the inbound side. It’s a short enough platform that the shelter is pretty close to the mini-high.
Cons: Obviously, the mini-high platforms are terrible. Other than that, there’s the fact that when trains are stopped here, they block traffic at two level crossings instead of just one! Speaking of level crossings, I must ask again why part of the outbound platform is past one of them…
Nearby and Noteworthy: There’s a tiny shopping plaza near the station with a pizza joint, a convenience store, and a few other similar establishments. That’s about it.
Final Verdict: 4/10
You know, Montserrat is probably of similar quality to North Beverly, but I find myself liking it just a bit more. Maybe it’s that the surrounding area is nicer? That’s all I can really think of, since I do find this station has a tiny bit of charm. Just a little bit.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Mishawum
In the 90s, Mishawum was on top of the world. With its attractive highway location, it had a huge parking lot, a Logan Express bus connection, and tons of riders. Then, in 2001, Anderson/Woburn opened up. All of a sudden, Mishawum became almost completely obsolete, and now it gets just three trains in each direction every weekday – it’s a ghost station. A WBUR crew and I came here to check it out – also, hello to any folks who came from there!
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| The platforms. |
Well, I have to say that this is probably the highest-quality microstation on the Commuter Rail, but that’s only because of its past. The station has really nice wooden shelters on both sides, although the inbound one is (sensibly) far longer. The wastebaskets seemed like they hadn’t been emptied in a while, yet the station map was surprisingly up-to-date – someone actually came here to put on a sticker with Boston Landing on it! Something completely out of date, though, was the old honor boxes on the inbound side for a parking lot that doesn’t even exist anymore.
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| Welcome to the Graveyard of Random Train Stuff. |
We can use the one crossing to get to the outbound platform, which I doubt anyone has used since Mishawum became a microstation – why would someone go outbound from here? As such, the shelter here isn’t quite as nice, experiencing paint chipping on its columns. Wait, does that mean someone repainted the inbound side? That’s dedication! Also, the outbound platform has a bunch of…stuff behind its shelter. It’s just there, not really bothering anyone, I guess.
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| Okay…can we all agree that the font on that left sign is horrible? |
Despite a promising T sign up on Mishawum Road, the outbound staircase is – ahem – “closed for repair.” Yeah, okay. Keep telling us that in your orange sign with a really gross font on it. Look, this affects no one, but these stairs are obviously never getting repaired. I will say that a nice modern sign on Mishawum Road points toward the other entrance with promises of accessibility, but we’ll see how that goes later…
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| Well, that is indeed accessible. |
I’ll say that the station’s one open entrance is wheelchair accessible, and surprisingly nice. There’s a long ramp that twists its way down to the station, as well as a staircase alternative for those who are able to use it. The passage is well-lit despite a few broken lights, and it gets the job done really well. Why is it so nice? Because the T built it in 2010. That’s right, it took until 2018 for the MBTA to close Wollaston, a subway station with over 4,500 riders a day, for accessibility improvements, but Mishawum with its six Commuter Rail trains per day got this brand new entrance eight years ago! WHAT??
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| The plot thickens. |
Coming out of the station, we arrive in a land of office parks, most prominently a Northern Bank that seems to have opened up recently. But what are these six spaces in the bank’s parking lot for? “MBTA Drop Off Only”? Do people actually get dropped off here? Based on the reverse commuting structure of the station, the only way that would make sense is if someone got their coworker to drive them here after work. Even if some folks do that, is it really necessary to dedicate six spaces to drop-offs? Also, someone locked their bike up here – I have no idea what their commute would be like, but more power to them. Maybe they exclusively use it to get from Mishawum to their workplace!
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| Uh-oh, we’re getting into illegal territory… |
Now, there is technically another entrance at Mishawum. We weren’t able to go to it, but we saw someone who did and asked them about it. On the southern end of the inbound platform (which is supposed to be “out of service” but the blocker was moved out of the way), it seems like nothing – there are a few graffitied or broken signs, a lone bench, and an abandoned broken bike sitting in the middle of a bunch of overgrowth. However, this person informed us about a secret cut down there that leads to more office parks! It’s not an official entrance, of course, but it’s very helpful for anyone who works down there, saving commuters from a half-mile detour on the road network.
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| And here we are. |
So we finally get to the mini-high platforms. Alright, these aren’t so bad. They don’t have any benches, but at least they’re sheltered, and you’ve got both stairs and a ramp to make them accessible. Cool, this station is accessible. Right?
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| NO. |
Oh. I see. So once we ascend the weed-ridden stairs to the platform, we find Mishawum’s dirty little secret: the mini-high platforms have no “lips” to the train. The T got rid of them to make another station accessible. Thus, Mishawum…is not. And look, the place gets six trains per day, so normally I wouldn’t be mad about it…except they put the ramps in just two years before getting rid of the lips. That’s right, Mishawum was accessible for a full two years. Gosh, that’s annoying. It also makes this the only MBTA station that was once accessible but now isn’t! UPDATE 8/27/19: It was pointed out to me that the station has actually been accessible since the 90s. Still, it’s not anymore!
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| Whoosh! |
Station: Mishawum
Ridership: With six trains per day, you’re gonna get low ridership – 42 inbound riders per weekday kind of ridership. Although is it that bad when you think about it? I mean, split between three trains, that’s 14 people per train. It’s a somewhat substantial number, and it’s clear that there are commuters around here that rely on the train to get to work.
Pros: Like I said, this is the highest-quality microstation on the Commuter Rail. That’s obviously because it hasn’t always been a microstation, but there’s no denying that the 42 people that use it every day benefit from the spacious inbound shelter with plenty of seating. The entrance to the station is also well-designed, even though the ramps are now useless…
Cons: Yeah, the fact that the ramps were built in 2010 only to become obsolete two years later is really annoying. I’m sure it wasn’t cheap to install them, and there are many other capital improvements on the Commuter Rail that would be so much more helpful to far higher amounts of people. Also, more obviously, parts of Mishawum are in disrepair (like the staircase), and the reverse commute schedule limits its usefulness.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The pinnacle of arcade-based entertainment, Dave and Buster’s, opened up to the west of this station a few years ago. You could also go east to the Woburn Mall, which definitely looks like an interesting place to hang out (note: no it doesn’t).
Final Verdict: 4/10
You know, I didn’t think I would go this high, but I’ll vouch for ol’ Mishawum! It has a hardy base of commuters that use it every day, and they have a luxurious waiting experience compared to other microstations like Silver Hill or – ugh! – Hastings. Heck, Mishawum gets more attention than some full-service Commuter Rail stations; it’s far better than North Beverly, for example. Plus, it’s one of the quirkiest stops on the Commuter Rail, what with its drop-off arrangement, its “closed for repairs” font, its miscellaneous stuff on the outbound platform, and everything else I talked about in the review. Obviously Mishawum could be a lot better, and it has enough houses close by that at least some traditional rush hour trips could be well-used, but for a microstation, it’s top of the line.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Once again, hello to anyone who came here from WBUR, and thanks to them for writing an awesome article! I haven’t seen the video yet (I’m publishing this from school wi-fi where YouTube is blocked – eek!) but I’m sure it’s awesome as well.
GUEST POST: Forge Park/495
Mike N. sent in another guest post, this time of the terminus of the Franklin Line:
Thanks to my uncle Robert, I was able to get some footage and review the station at the end of the Franklin Line. Let’s hop right into this review!
The station is very snowy, however the T plowed out the walkways and the platform, so it still has some use. The mini high is indeed very generic, with no benches to sit on, however it is fully sheltered and makes the station accessible, which is a plus. Down the platform, there is nothing but chipping advertisement boards. The other platform is completely bare as well.
Now, to the station building. I don’t know what exactly is inside, because it is closed on weekends, but outside there is a nice shelter, newspaper boxes, and a vending machine. Across from the building is some bike spaces, which were empty because of the snow, but at least the station encourages people to use alternate forms of transportation to get to it. In terms of parking, there is tons of that at Forge Park. There are two massive lots, with the total amount of spaces coming to 716, along with the bike racks. The other platform does indeed have track crossings so people can get to the amenity-filled platform, but when a train is stopped at the station, they have the doors open on both sides, which is convenient if you have to make a mad dash to the train.
Station: Forge Park/495
Pros: This station gets a ton of ridership, has adequate amounts of parking, good amenities, good shelter, it’s accessible, it encourages bikers, and it has some GATRA shuttles that run from here for commuters.
Cons: Not much, but I just wish that there were some benches riddled across the platform, especially because there isn’t one in the mini high. They should add one there too. Also, if they had the station building hours changed a little bit, that would be helpful when it is cold.
Final Verdict: 8/10
This is a nice station.The station building gives the station some pizazz, there is adequate parking, it’s accessible, and it accommodates bikers. I just wish the advertisements weren’t chipping, it kind of drains character from the station. Also, some benches are needed along the platform and under the mini high.
Prides Crossing
Oho, a microstation! How many trains per day does Prides Crossing get? Three in the morning and five in the evening. Unlike your typical Hastings, though, Prides Crossing actually has itself some amenities. Let’s see what they are…
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| Okay, then. Huh. |
Well, it certainly wasn’t a good start to get let out in the middle of a level crossing. Josh and I headed out here in mid-December (although I still have a lot of summer backlog to get to, don’t get excited), so getting led out into the cold in the middle of a level crossing was a big shock, to say the least. But I’m sure the rest of the station is better!
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| Hey, it’s something. |
Okay, obviously there are some drawbacks to Prides Crossing’s platform arrangement. For one thing, it’s not accessible. For another, there’s only one of them. Yes, people have to cross the tracks on an asphalt slab in order to board inbound trains in the morning. But hey, the platform has some degree of shelter and some benches and wastebaskets. There’s even a motion-sensored light that was very helpful for taking these night pictures!
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| The building, seen from across the street. |
The reason Prides Crossing has the shelter and the light is because the station building is actually a private business: Prides Crossing Confections, a candy shop. And sure, that means that there’s no station parking here (it’s reserved for the shop), but overall the arrangement seems to work pretty well. It even has those famous Democrat and Republican benches, that most classic feature of Prides Crossing!
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| A train blazing across the level crossing. |
Station: Prides Crossing
Ridership: Obviously, this one doesn’t get very high ridership. In fact, it’s the third least-used station on the Commuter Rail, getting just 20, count ’em, 20 inbound riders per weekday. Only Silver Hill and Plimptonville get worse ridership.
Pros: You know what, it has a building. It has some benches. For a microstation, this is leagues above the norm!
Cons: Obviously there’s the schedule: eight trains per day is awful. The reason it gets such limited service is because it’s less than a mile – a mere three-minute drive – away from the next stop, Beverly Farms. I mean, if that’s the case, I guess the schedule makes sense, but it’s still a very limited service.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Prides Crossing Confections has the best candy ever according to the majority of its Google reviews, so give it a shot, I guess. You’ll probably have to walk from Beverly Farms because of Prides Crossing’s schedule, but don’t worry – it’s less than a 15-minute walk.
Final Verdict: 3/10
Obviously it wasn’t going to score too well. The schedule is limited, the station is incredibly close to the next one, and despite having a lot of amenities for a microstation, there’s only one platform and no parking. Like any microstation, though, it was great fun to visit! Also, on a completely random note, did you know that it actually has a bus connection? The CATA Beverly Shuttle runs past this station on Saturday mornings only! Believe me, we will look at that crazy route soon.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Beverly
Beverly: the point where the Newburyport and Rockport Line come together, as well as the third-busiest station on the whole Commuter Rail. So why is it so subpar?
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| Looking down the platform. |
We’ll start with a good part: the platforms. I gotta say, the shelter to busyness ratio is really well-done! The outbound side gets a simple “modern” Commuter Rail shelter, while the inbound side is covered by a long building that now houses a restaurant. I think that’s perfect – I’m sure this station does get outbound ridership so it’s good to give those passengers a shelter, but of course more amenities should be, and thus are, given to the inbound side.
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| On the inbound side. |
There are plenty of amenities underneath that shelter, too. You’ve got multiple benches, wastebaskets, and newspaper boxes along the whole thing, and even a bike rack further down! There’s car parking on either side of the station, but I think it might be for town residents only because of the new lot the T built. We’ll get to that.
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| OH NO!!!! |
The third-busiest station on the Commuter Rail. The third-busiest station on the whole Commuter Rail. And these are the mini-highs it gets. They’re falling apart. They have nothing on them aside from one solitary bench on the inbound side. Really??? I mean, when the T was building its new fancy parking lot here, they couldn’t have thrown in some new mini-high platforms? These are awful.
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| The entrance to the parking garage. |
Using the one crossing in the middle of the station (which in itself is annoying – there couldn’t be a second one near the garage?), we can cross over to the outbound side. From here, there’s the entrance to the Beverly Depot Parking Garage. It’s a long footbridge with grilled fence-walls that seem to trap and kill a barbaric amount of houseflies!
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| Inside the garage. |
It’s strange having this brand new, modern parking garage in an otherwise old and primitive station. The three-story building has a total of 500 spaces and some fancy machines that take special Beverly Garage smart cards. Overnight parking is even allowed – indeed, you can park here for as long as you want. Too bad the lot still suffers from severe underusage, and as recently as September 2015 it was barely half-full on weekdays.
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| A train receding into the distance. |
Station: Beverly
Ridership: Like I said, this is the third-busiest station on the Commuter Rail, getting a massive 2,058 inbound riders per weekday in 2013. That’s huge. It’s more than even some subway stations in Boston!
Pros: The low-level platforms are well-executed, with good amounts of shelter for both sides of the station. Despite its underusage, the new parking lot is a nice inclusion to the station, and having too much space is better than too little, especially if the station is right in a downtown like Beverly – it’s not like it’s a sprawling lot or anything. As ridership grows, more people will presumably use the garage.
Cons: Why does the third-busiest station on the whole Commuter Rail system look like…like this? It is not okay that a station with this much ridership has to deal with those empty decrepit mini-high platforms. I mean, they’re annoying at stations like Montserrat and North Beverly, but those stops get a fraction of Bevery’s ridership.
Nearby and Noteworthy: You’ve gotta walk a few blocks to Cabot Street, but once you get there, you’ll find a pretty town center with a variety of small businesses.
Final Verdict: 5/10
Let it be known that in most other situations, Beverly would probably get away with a 6. However, because its ridership is so high, the abysmal mini-high platforms are that much more unacceptable. It’s even more infuriating that the T gave this station a modern parking lot, yet in the process of building it no one ever looked over at the mini-highs and said, “Huh, those kinda suck…maybe we should replace them.” The rest of the station is fine, good even, but the mini-highs are inexcusable.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
North Beverly
Oh God, ew. We’ve taken a sharp turn for the worst since our last review, and all it took was a 4 minute train ride! Welp…here’s North Beverly.
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| Oh boy, great start! |
We begin with the station parking lot, which is tiny (87 spaces) and, at least in the summer, very sandy. And you know how some stations have a little plaza between the parking lot and the platform? Well, there’s nothing like that at North Beverly: you’ve got one level passage, one staircase, and one…I guess it could be called a “plaza”? It’s a grassy uneven surface with a few newspaper boxes on its perimeter, and if you’re willing to climb over a bunch of wooden rods, there’s a bike rack!
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| On the platform. |
There isn’t much to say about North Beverly’s low-level platforms. The outbound side is basically nothing, so we’ll just write it off as that. The inbound side does have stuff, including a typical “modern” Commuter Rail shelter and…what’s that further down the tracks? Oh no, it’s a BUS SHELTER! I hate it when they put those in Commuter Rail stations!
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| Bottom of the barrel. |
And here we are at the mini-high platforms! Well, on the plus side, they do make the station accessible. On the minus side, these are the absolute worst things ever! Barring the fact that they have nothing on them, not even shelter, these mini-highs have some serious Mansfield Syndrome. Not only are they falling apart (little chunks of the platforms have fallen to the ground), but the wood slabs they stuck on top of them to try to make them more accessible are just recipes for someone tripping and falling onto the tracks. Heck, one of the railings has even come loose. I have so many pictures of how decrepit these things are!
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| Mm-hmm. |
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| Oh, that’s normal. |
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| Look, platform remains. What, it makes perfect sense! |
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| Okay, I’ll drop the facade…PLEASE GET ME OUT OF HERE! |
Station: North Beverly
Ridership: The station gets 292 inbound riders per weekday, which is less than Rowley, but apparently it’s low enough to justify making it a flag stop at all times outside of rush hour. I still will never understand why Rowley isn’t one on weekends.
Pros: It has parking…some basic amenities…accessibility…oh, it has an MBTA bus connection! …with the rush hour only 451.
Cons: It’s just so bad. From the weird grassy “plaza” to the dingy bus shelter to the absolutely decrepit mini-highs, there’s very little about North Beverly that isn’t awful. Also, why is it that two stations in the same town are in different fare zones? This is Zone 5, while Beverly Depot is Zone 4!
Nearby and Noteworthy: There are some businesses around here housed in small plazas with parking lots. It’s not pedestrian-friendly, but if you really want something nearby, it does the trick.
Final Verdict: 3/10
There’s nothing worse than bare, falling-apart mini-highs – the presence of those would be enough to drop a station down to a 5 or a 6. North Beverly decides to expand upon the mini-highs’ badness, though, and so we get the bus shelter, the “plaza,” the sandy parking lot, the weird fare zone, and everything else. Great work.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
James Asks…
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| Here’s an example of the blurry train effect at South Station. The review is coming… |
Hamilton/Wenham
A modern Commuter Rail station located in a downtown? A modern Commuter Rail station with character? No, no, I simply can’t believe it. And yet, here it is: Hamilton/Wenham.
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| Wow, that’s a lot of bikes! |
The station is well-connected to the immediate area by foot, with lots of passageways connecting to attractions on all sides. You’ve got one that runs along the tracks as far as Walnut Road, as well as spurs serving businesses blocks on Bay Road and crossing the parking lot of a small shopping center. I love how expansive the pedestrian connections are, and they’re along attractive and well-marked sidewalks for the most part.
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| And just look at this glorious mini-high! |
The mini-high platform at this station is great. And sure, it’s not even that special from an amenity point of view: it only has a bench on it, while a wastebasket sits at the ramp entrance. That’s it. But gosh, it just has so much charm! I adore the fact that it’s made out of wood, and yet since the station was built in 2002, the platform also has lots of modern features, including both stairs and a ramp, and copious railings. It’s simple, but it’s awesome.
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| Meh. |
Okay, there isn’t much to say about the rest of the platform. I mean, most if it is just bare asphalt with the occasional wastebasket. There is another wooden shelter, though, and it offers another bench and a wholeeeeeee bunch of random newspaper boxes. The station’s parking lot is pretty standard for a Commuter Rail station with about 200 spaces, but I think it’s awesome that they were able to provide a lot and locate the station in the town center. Why can’t more Commuter Rail stations be like that?
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| Goodbye! |
Station: Hamilton/Wenham
Ridership: A part of me was worried this station would have low ridership, but luckily it doesn’t. This is the third-busiest station on the independent section of the Newburyport Line, getting 436 inbound riders per weekday.
Pros: Oh my gosh, it’s so good! For a modern Commuter Rail station, Hamilton/Wenham completely bucks the trend of what the T usually does. It has many pedestrian connections, its wooden shelters provide character, and it’s located in a downtown area…and there was still room for parking!
Cons: Not much, although it seems like there’s quite a lot of bike demand here. I could see one or even two extra racks getting plenty of usage.
Nearby and Noteworthy: It doesn’t look like the most interesting town center at first, but there are gems to be found. I perused a lovely little souvenir shop, while there are also plenty of local restaurants around that look great.
Final Verdict: 9/10
This is how you build a new Commuter Rail station. The T could’ve easily relocated the station to the middle of the woods and thrown a 1,000 space parking lot next to it, but they didn’t do that. They actually did relocate the station from its old place, but only to move it a little further from the level crossing at Bay Road so it wouldn’t get activated while trains were stopped. Wow, that is amazing! Combine it with all the other perks of this stop and you’ve got yourself the perfect model for what a modern Commuter Rail station should be.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates