Back Bay (a very in-depth look)
I’ve been to Lechmere. I’ve been to Dudley. I’ve been to Prudential, for heaven’s sake. Yet I was unprepared for Back Bay. This is the darkest, dirtiest, scariest, and overall dingiest MBTA station I’ve ever been to. Along with two of my friends, Jason and Michael, I explored this station from top to bottom (yet somehow I overlooked the Dartmouth Street underpass – whoops) and found a bunch of cool/disgusting things. We also spent about 45 minutes down on the Commuter Rail platforms, so I probably inhaled about 300 gallons of diesel fumes. Did I mention the diesel fumes? There are lots of diesel fumes.
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| Well, isn’t that a nice entrance? Too bad it doesn’t warn you about the horrors inside. |
The entrance on Clarendon Street is great. It has its own busway where MBTA buses 39 and 170 stop, as well as the Megabus to New York City. It’s a fine busway, with benches and shelter. But the entrance itself is really cool-looking. It has a massive glass facade, with some circular art over the glass. Also, there are revolving doors, which is an amazing feature.
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| A pretty awkward angle of the second entrance, which is evidently dominated by Santander ads. |
The second entrance is on Dartmouth Street, and looks pretty much the same as the one on Clarendon Street. It lacks a busway, though the 10 stops a little further down Dartmouth Street. I’m not sure how much ridership that route gets at this stop, but I feel like it ought to have a shelter. This is a very major train station, after all.
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| The beautiful entrance area. |
The above-ground station building is really nice. Its ceilings are insanely tall, and lots of natural light gets in from the massive windows. There are a bunch of fare machines scattered about, and lots of fare gates heading to the Orange Line. Also from this entrance area is a staircase down to an underpass to Copley Place, the Hynes Convention Center, and the Prudential Center.
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| The hallway between the entrances. |
A hallway then leads back to the Clarendon Street entrance. It has some vending machines along it, which is nice. And overall, the hallway looks pretty good, though it does have some random pipes scattered about.
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| An indoor Pedal and Park! Woah! |
On the Clarendon Street side of the station, there’s actually an indoor Pedal and Park facility! It’s something I’ve never seen before on the MBTA, and it’s certainly interesting. I have to wonder, though, if the floor gets really dirty when people bring their muddy bikes right into the station to park them up.
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| The forlorn entrance to the parking garage. |
From this above ground area, there’s an exit into a nearby parking garage. It’s not an official MBTA garage, but it’s nice that the connection is there. The exit is an overpass over Tracks 5 and 7 (you’ll be hearing a lot about those later on), but unfortunately, the door to the parking garage was locked. Turns out it’s only open on weekdays, which sort of makes sense, but people ride the train on weekends, too! I was here on a Saturday and it was still pretty crowded.
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| The waiting area. |
The waiting area is a pretty nice place. It’s very bright, with benches circling around cool-looking lamps. There’s also a statue, which doubles as a bench itself. The waiting area includes payphones and bathrooms, which I was sadly unable to visit. Ticket offices run along the wall, and on the other side of the room, there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts. In fact, this station has two Dunkin’ Donuts, on either side of the mezzanine. Overkill, much?
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| Look how smoggy it is down here on tracks 1-3! |
Tracks 1-3 serve the Franklin, Needham, and Providence/Stoughton Lines, as well as Amtrak’s Northeast Regional and Acela Express. They have high-floor platforms, though they’re pretty dark. Also, they’re super-smoggy because of all the diesel fumes that come through this station. Indeed, the air problems are so bad here that people with lung conditions are advised not to use this station. A scientist at the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research group, said that the air quality down here was “some of the worst air quality I’ve ever measured.” Fix the ventilation, MBTA!
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| A bench with some historical information on it. |
Aside from the darkness and air problems, this platform isn’t too bad. It has lots of signs with some really awesome historical images and information. There are also way too many Santander ads, just like in every other part of the station. It’s really annoying when a company monopolizes an entire station with their ads.
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| I love this! |
On one of the platforms (I want to say Track 2, but I’m not too sure), there’s a cool art piece of the workings of a steam engine (I think). Whatever it is, it looks really cool. It’s 3D, with lots of detail in the little gauges and pipes going everywhere. It adds a bit of spice to a mostly gloomy platform.
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| Two shots of a truck that came through the station. |
We started walking further down the platform, when a cute little pickup truck came chugging down the tracks! It seemed to have wheels that allowed it to run on train tracks, but it looked really tiny compared to the high platform. What are these trucks actually used for? Leave a comment if you know.
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| The most disgusting staircase you will ever climb. Note that the flash was on. |
We came across a staircase from the platform that led up to Columbus Ave. Let me tell you, this was the grossest staircase I’ve ever been on. Water dripped from the ceiling constantly, and it was really, really dark. We tried to avoid any liquids when climbing it, but this proved to be impossible, as the whole thing was covered in water or possibly…something else.
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| The exit. |
It was invigorating to see broad daylight at the top of the stairs. This was exit-only, though, so we didn’t want to leave. Indeed, it had a door that said it was an emergency exit, but maybe people are encouraged to use the turnstile next to it to leave. Honestly, though, doors are much more efficient than turnstiles.
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| The above-ground bit of the platform. |
Eventually the platform goes outdoors. Most of it is still sheltered, though. Honestly, I don’t know why they built the platform out this far, since no trains seem to be long enough to stop out here. And there’s still historical information out here! It’s like a scavenger hunt or something! Something else we found was a pigeon that had been run over by a train, but the picture I took is kinda gross. I guess I won’t post it here, then, to respect those who are faint of heart.
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| I wouldn’t recommend sitting on this bench. |
We also came across a bench that I dubbed “monsoon bench.” The reason? There was a literal rainstorm of water coming from the ceiling onto this one bench. I don’t know why anyone would wait out here, though, since again, the trains don’t stop this far up the platform.
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| Well, that’s…haphazard. |
At the very end of the platform, there was an emergency exit staircase. Its door was open, and I really wanted to see what the stairs led to, but there were all these signs saying “police take notice” and stuff like that. I decided to play it safe and not go in.
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| Look how smoggy it is! |
On our way back into the tunnel, we had to dodge around some stuff that looked like a big pile of bird poop or something. We also had to duck around a pipe that was simply spewing out water. I guess the MBTA doesn’t bother to fix this part of the platform because there’s no point in waiting out here.
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| A better picture of the platform. |
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| Inside the elevator. |
The elevator was surprisingly smell-free. It was fairly clean, but the floor seemed to be a bit exposed. It was also a really slow ride, but overall, I was surprised by the cleanliness of the elevator. Okay, mostly the fact that it didn’t have a smell. Seriously, how is that possible? This is the MBTA!
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| A train heading toward South Station. |
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| Another train. |
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| Cool, an Amtrak! |
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| The back of the Amtrak train, |
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| You can see the Orange Line trains going by from this platform, too. |
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| Looking down the mezzanine at the Orange Line entrances. |
Chronologically, we went to the Orange Line platform last, but I’m gonna talk about that before I talk about the horrors of tracks 5-7. There are two ways to get into the Orange Line – the first is from the mezzanine itself, and the second is down by the Dartmouth Street Underpass (which I wasn’t able to see). Heading in through the mezzanine, there’s some nice art hanging above the stairs.
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| The platform. |
The Orange Line platform is actually pretty nice. It was very clean, though once again completely dominated by Santander ads. Even though one side of the station is above ground, it does feel like a subway station. It even has some pointless televisions on the wall! The only thing I don’t like about this platform is the ceiling, which is kinda ugly.
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| The exit-only hallway to Clarendon Street and Columbus Ave. |
On one end of the station, there’s an exit that leads to the intersection of Clarendon Street and Columbus Ave. The hallway itself is nice, with little glass squares on either side. The exit is more or less the same as the Commuter Rail exit, except with two sides. There’s still the turnstile and door that says “Emergency exit,” for some reason.
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| A train on the platform. |
Okay, now it’s time to go to Tracks 5 and 7. This station has been all right thus far, but wait until we get down to this platform. It’s horrid. It’s disgusting. It’s dark. It is the dingiest, scariest place I’ve ever been to on the entire MBTA. Okay, here we go.
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| Enter…if you dare. |
Tracks 5 and 7 serve the Framingham/Worcester Line, as well as Amtrak’s daily Lake Shore Limited to Chicago. The entrance to the platform is fairly unassuming, with the same architecture as the rest of the mezzanine. It has a little departure board for Commuter Rail trains outside, as well as a Framingham/Worcester Line schedule.
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| This was the first thing I saw in the platform. Great first impression… |
At the bottom of the staircase, the ceiling and wall paint was peeling off. And then we actually entered the platform. Well, for one thing, it was extremely dark at that entrance. I used flash in a lot of these pictures, so just take my word that it was really, really dark.
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| Heading toward the light. |
This station has a smaller above ground section, and it’s as useless as the one back on Track 1. There were a few benches out there, but no one would have reason to wait in that section. Also, we found some…poop. Dog or human? We had no idea.
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| Well, at least it’s brighter over here. |
The platform got brighter in the middle. It did have a wastebasket and a recycling bin, as well as a bunch of papers strewn about the floor. There was an interesting pillar formation in the middle of the platform, with a random diagonal support that didn’t seem to serve much of a purpose.
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| The boarding area. |
Most of the platform is low-level, but there’s a mini-high at the far end of the platform. Gee, MBTA, thanks for making everyone walk even deeper into Poor Air Quality Land. It’s just as gross and disgusting as the rest of the platform, and there was a bunch of trash stuffed under the one bench in the boarding area.
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| The bowels of the tunnel. |
Past the waiting area, the dark, creepy tunnel continued past an “x” of supports. Beyond that was a whole bunch of trash on the floor and then darkness. We theorized that there have been a lot of wild parties thrown at this part of the station. But really, just standing there and looking into the tunnel was really, really scary, not just because of the darkness, but also these noises of water dripping from the ceiling and who knows what else. And speaking of scary things, here’s the other crazy stuff we found on this platform!
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| There was some sort of weird liquid there… |
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| Look! Daylight! |
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| The staircase that led to that above door. I believe it’s exit only. |
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| This wall is in dire need of some repainting. |
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| That is a really disgusting roof. |
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| This sign has seen a bit of vandalism over the years. |
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| No idea what that thing hanging down is… |
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| Pshh, down here? How many people do you think follow that rule? |
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| Some random wire hanging down. |
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| A train! Civilization! |
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| The back of the train. |
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| Trash galore. |
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| Okay, seriously, how the heck do you get all this stuff into the ceiling? |
Station: Back Bay
Ridership: This is the fifth busiest subway station on the system, with 18,100 riders per day using the Orange Line platform. As for the Commuter Rail, the Blue Book only gives inbound data, so all I can say is that 126 people per day go to South Station from here. (That much? Really?) However, there were quite a lot of commuters when we were here, and that was on a Saturday. Finally, Amtrak gets 540,770 riders per year here, or about 1,482 riders per day.
Pros: Okay, well, it’s definitely a well-located station. While South Station serves downtown and the financial district, Back Bay is here to serve the Back Bay (duh) and Copley Square. And I have to say, I like a lot of it. The entrances and mezzanine are great, and the Orange Line platforms aren’t bad. In addition, in terms of aesthetics, Tracks 1-3 are all right. A little dark (okay, a lot dark), but I loved the train art on the wall and the historical images.
Cons: But of course, this station has really, really bad air quality. Like, that’s dangerous! This is a dangerous station! And don’t even get me started on Tracks 5 and 7. You can see in the photos above that this is not a nice place to wait for the train. And they put the waiting area at the very end of the platform, just to make people go further into the smog-infested station!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Copley Square is a stone’s throw away from here, with lots of stuff to do. Also, if you head the other way down Dartmouth Street, you come across a place called Brownstone. I came here for brunch once, and it was really good. And they had 60’s music playing on the radio, just to make the meal even better!
Final Verdict: 3/10
If we were to take the air quality issues and Tracks 5 and 7 out of the picture, this station would probably nab a 7. But alas, both of the problems above exist. The fact that this station is legitimately dangerous for people with lung conditions is just mind-boggling to me. The ventilation here needs to be fixed! And then Tracks 5 and 7 are just a total mess. I almost wonder if it’s not worth renovating them, because they’ve reached the point of no return. That platform was quite fun to explore, though, I’ll give it that. Bring a flashlight!
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Governor Charlie Baker says that change is required in “virtually all aspects of the MBTA.” Read more here.
MBTA to Become More “Fun”
As we all know, the MBTA had a rough time this winter. From outdated infrastructure to old trains, the MBTA needs to improve its winter performance for next year. But there’s a more pressing concern for Boston’s subway system: it’s not fun enough.
“The MBTA had a rough winter, and we know that.” says MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo, “But we thought, ‘why spend billions of dollars fixing infrastructure when we can spend billions of dollars making commutes more enjoyable?'”
Certainly a bold statement. How exactly will the MBTA become more fun? It has plans to add trampolines, carousels, and ferris wheels in some of its busiest stations, and eventually the whole system. From their ad campaign: “Got 15 minutes to wait for the next Orange Line train? Pass the time by jumping on the trampoline! Just don’t want to go to work today? Release your inner child on the carousel! The possibilities are endless!”
The MBTA will need to hire more staff members for this plan to be implemented. Namely, hundreds and hundreds of clowns to entertain tired commuters during rush hour! These improvements should be complete by 2020, and will make the MBTA a much more “funtastic” environment.
“Stupid, just stupid,” says Karen Shmorfing, a daily commuter from Chelsea on the 111. “We’re so packed in as it is, they’re not gonna have any room for merry-go-rounds!”
“This is such a [expletive] horrible idea!” says Robert Trebor, who commutes from Waltham on the Commuter Rail. “They have [expletive] infrastructure, that’s, like, five million years old, and they’re spending their [expletive] small budget on [expletive] kiddy toys!”
“I like it,” says John, 5.
The MBTA has produced an artist’s impression of one of the new vehicles, as well as an FAQ.
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| An artist’s impression of a refurbished Red Line train. Note the pretty colors and the fun clown. |
How will my commute be enhanced by these changes?
Your commute will be much more fun than it was before. There will be lots of fun rides at stations and many cute decorations around the system. And the subway announcers will tell jokes!
Okay, but what about when old trains break down?
Replacement shuttle buses will offer free lollipops.
How much will it cost to ride, say, the carousel?
Simply tap your CharlieCard to enter the ride. Fares are 20 bucks.
Will my monthly pass cover that cost?
No.
This isn’t an April Fool’s joke, is it?
Yeah, it is. Sorry about that.
Newton Centre
It’s another “Center”, except this one’s spelled the British way! Yes, we’re taking a trip on the D Line out to Newton Centre. I had actually come here once before when I was really little, back when there was a Starbucks right in the station building. That Starbucks is gone now, and I have no memories of when I was here before, so this is pretty much a fresh look.
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| The old station building. |
The outbound side of Newton Centre gets the perk of the old station building providing shelter. The building is in the National Register of Historic Places, and it’s certainly a beauty. It now houses the Deluxe Station Diner, but I didn’t go in. The building even has an old “Piccadilly Square – Newton Centre” sign!
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| The more boring inbound platform. |
The inbound platform is just a typical D Line platform. It has that classic wooden shelter and that classic heated CharlieCard shelter, plus a wheelchair ramp. There’s also an entrance from the residential Braeland Ave down to this platform, but I didn’t notice it when I was at the station. I do know that the entrance has a T symbol, which is always important yet something that some stations lack.
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| A ground-level view (I was going up the stairs). |
The station has quite a few entrances, all things considered. The main one leads to an area with a bunch of newspaper boxes, as well as a bench. Entrances on Herrick Road and Langley Road are just long ramps that lead down to the station. Signage is really good around the station, so it’s always easy to find if you’re walking around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, this is also a “screw you” station, as I found out when I watched my train leave while I tried to run toward it.
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| That’s a lot of benches… |
Newton Centre is only served by one bus route, and that’s the extremely limited 52. Still, this is a train connection, so it makes sense to provide shelters. The outbound shelter had lots of litter around it when I was here, but it was fine. The inbound shelter was interesting in that it has five benches lined up next to it! I’m not sure if they’re meant for waiting for the bus or if they’re just random benches, but this is the 52 we’re talking about. The 52! You do not need that many benches for the 52!
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| Aww, it’s a cute little one-car! |
Station: Newton Centre
Ridership: This is the D Line, so don’t expect too much. That said, the station gets an average of almost 1,900 riders per day, which is pretty good, considering the line it’s on. Most to all of this ridership is probably just local riders from around the area.
Pros: In terms of aesthetics, this is one of the better D Line stations out there. This is mostly due to the awesome old Newton Centre building, which is amazing even if it’s on the outbound platform. As for the inbound platform, it still has those classic D Line wooden and heated shelters. Newton Centre has four entrances, so there are plenty of ways to get in.
Cons: One of the most important parts of any D Line station is tranquility, and unfortunately I didn’t get a very tranquil feeling waiting for the train here. This was because of a noisy air conditioner outside of the old building that completely ruined any quiet, peaceful feelings this station may have had.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Tucked away in an alley is the Union Street restaurant. I ate there for lunch, and it was pretty good.
Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s that typical D Line score. In regards to aesthetics, this station is excellent because of the great old Newton Centre building. Unfortunately, that radiator kind of ruined the tranquility here, and reminded me of the fact that there was civilization nearby. I’m sorry, but I like my D Line stations tranquil. Thus, I’m subtracting the extra point the building would’ve given the station.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Random Photos: Is There a Laundry Service?
I got on a pretty much empty train at Alewife, and sat down. Looking across from me, I noticed that someone had left a whole bunch of clothing under one of the seats! How the heck do you forget something like that?
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| Geez, Louise… |
Malden Center
Malden Center is the undisputed hub of the northern Orange Line. The subway station is accompanied by a huge number of buses, as well as a Commuter Rail station. It’s also elevated! However, brutalist architecture is very present here…uh-oh.
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| The Orange Line platform, as seen from the Commuter Rail platform. |
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| The crowded mezzanine. |
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| The barren Commuter Rail platform. |
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| A train coming in. |
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| The smaller west busway. |
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| The east busway. |
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| A train leaving the station. |
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| Another train, also leaving. |
Revere Beach
Revere Beach is a really weird station. It has a lot of strange little oddities that really make it super unique. Also, it’s the last station on the Blue Line to be reviewed on this blog, at least until Government Center opens! It’s too bad, because the Blue Line has some of the best stations on the system (including the best, in terms of review score), though Suffolk Downs isn’t one of those. I’m gonna miss you, Blue Line. But here’s one last review before we part…
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| Looking at the platforms from Beach Street. |
For one thing, Revere Beach has a very urban feel, which is kind of odd for the above-ground portion of the Blue Line. The platforms are squished in between a building and a wall, with the mezzanine crossing on top of them. Looking at the platform from the side, you can see the odd design in the shelters that looks pretty artsy – they have a few shapes cut out of them, as you can see above. And those shapes go down the whole length of the shelter.
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| On the platform. |
Pretty much all of the platform is sheltered by either the mezzanine or those interesting shelters. Its colors are unique, too, from simple grays to shades of yellow and green. Revere Beach also has the same Blue Line history artwork running along its floor as Beachmont, adding more colors to the mix!
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| It may be emergency exit only, but lots of people use this exit, anyway. |
The Beach Street exit is another weird aspect of this station. For one thing, it’s supposedly emergency exit only, but people still use it. It also has a turnstile, but no one seems to use that, opting for the emergency door instead. Also, someone could easily get into the door and get onto the platform without paying, which is really annoying.
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| The station’s main entrance. |
After leaving onto Beach Street, I took a walk to Revere Beach, which required crossing two busy roads. On my way back, I figured I’d have to go in through the main entrance, so I headed back a little further down Beach Street. To get to the entrance, there’s a nice pedestrian path, as well as a T logo on Beach Street so people know where the station is. Finally, a station that gets it right! The entrance itself is really modern-looking.
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| The shiny mezzanine. |
The mezzanine is fantastic! It’s really clean and spacious, and very modern. Everything seems to be mirrored, particularly the amazing ceiling. There are even some payphones here, as well as bus schedules for the three buses that serve this station.
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| Love the wooden doors! |
From the mezzanine, I noticed a doorway leading to a third exit. The door opened up to another, mostly shiny room, though with a brick wall on one side. This room led to two wooden doors, after which both walls became brick. All of this ended up at a waiting room for a hospital! I was surprised, and felt a bit awkward there.
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| Oh, yeah, this entrance just screams “train station”. |
I decided to head out of the waiting room to see where the entrance actually ended up. And it turned out it was a building I walked right by when going back to the station from Revere Beach! It has no signage whatsoever, and looks like just a boring old building. Maybe the entrance is supposed to be exclusive for hospital patients? I don’t know, but it’s a lot easier for those going to Revere Beach than traveling all the way around to the main entrance.
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| The mezzanine, now in fare control. |
I went back to the mezzanine, going through the fare gates. Now, usually the area past the fare gates doesn’t deserve any special mention, but this one is awesome! It has more shiny ceilings and walls, a cool pattern on the floor, wastebaskets, and a big window looking over the station platform. It’s rare to see this much stuff past the fare gates!
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| Even the staircase is cool! |
Walking to the outbound platform, I found yet another oddity. The hallway turns left towards a staircase (which is cool anyway, thanks to some artwork and a curving glass window/ceiling), and there are Dunkin’ Donuts signs at that turn. I assumed it was just advertising, but I looked over the signs and saw right into the kitchen of the Dunkin’ Donuts next door! This station just gets cooler and cooler, doesn’t it?
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| Next stop, Wonderland. |
Station: Revere Beach
Ridership: Not bad, at least for the Blue Line. The station gets about 3,200 riders per weekday, and probably more during the summer. When it’s not the summer, I assume most of those riders are either locals from the area or hospital workers.
Pros: For one thing, it’s just a nice station – modern, clean, and accessible. But also, it has so many weird, unique aspects to it that make it one of the most interesting stations on the system.
Cons: Two major cons: firstly, the hospital entrance could really use some signage on the outside, as it’s much closer to the beach than the main entrance. Also, why would you even use this station to get to the beach when Wonderland has the pedestrian bridge over Ocean Ave? Seriously, Wonderland is so much more accessible for beachgoers than Revere Beach is (which is ironic, considering the latter’s name).
Nearby and Noteworthy: I’m not the biggest Revere Beach fan (the beach itself, not the station), but being able to ride the subway up to the beach is such a great thing to be able to do. Wonderland is better for getting to the beach, though.
Final Verdict: 9/10
This high score goes against my better judgement. However, although it has a few issues, just look at how unique this station is! It has so many weird oddities that really set it apart from other Blue Line stations, and other MBTA stations in general. If you’re into strange, unique stations, Revere Beach is absolutely worth a visit.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Orient Heights
Orient Heights Station was a mess. It wasn’t accessible, and it was literally falling apart. Finally, in 2013, the MBTA gave it a much-needed renovation. But does that mean the aesthetics are good? Well, let’s find out.
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| The platform. |
Okay, so I have to say, I wasn’t a fan of this station’s aesthetics when I visited. But having just reviewed Wood Island, Orient Heights looks pretty good in comparison! So I could be a bit influenced by that in this review. We’ll see…
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| And under the platform’s shelter. |
I think the platform itself is kind of a mixed bag. I like the reflective pillars, and the whole platform is sheltered. But the steel shelters are ugly, and those stupid Suffolk Downs fences are ever-present on the outbound side. Also, there are a few emergency exits along the platform. That’s certainly a good thing, but what’s really annoying is that it seems like they’re very popular for fare dodgers, since they lead right onto the platform.
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| Another shot of the platform. |
On the inbound side of the platform, the fences get replaced by some nice glass panels. This station also has some of those pointless bench shelters! They’re the ones where the benches are already sheltered by the station, yet they get their own little room, anyway. I think this might be the only station on the Blue Line that has these.
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| The station’s footbridge. |
To get between sides of the station, there are two footbridges. Well, they’re enclosed in the same structure, but separated by a fence – one is within fare control and the other is outside. With this footbridge, they use actual windows, so you can see the trains coming in from up there!
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| This one was taken about a year ago. But look at all those solar panels! |
From the footbridge, you can also see the station’s solar panels. 20% of the station’s power needs are provided by these bad boys, which produce 100 kilowatts of energy. Apparently Orient Heights is a really energy-efficient station as a whole, so says this informative, albeit kinda pretentious PDF. And in the PDF, they spelled “sustainable” as “sustainabile”, which is hilarious.
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| Looks like one of that train’s doors is broken. |
Another interesting thing about this station is that it doesn’t have any mezzanines. There’s a busway on the Bennington Street side, and from it are fare gates that lead right into the platform. I think this sort of layout is unique to Orient Heights, which makes it all the more interesting. Of course, that also makes this a “screw you” station, where you can see the train waiting there as you enter the station, but there’s not much you can do about that.
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| The Bennington Street busway. |
The Bennington Street busway is served by the 120, which is the only true MBTA bus that serves this station. It’s a nice busway, a simple road paralleling Bennington Street. It has another bench shelter, as well as countdown clocks for Blue Line trains! I love when there are countdown clocks in busways!
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| The Saratoga Street busway. |
On the other side of the station is the Saratoga Street busway. This is where the 712/713 contracted buses to Winthrop stop. It’s scaled down from the Bennington Street one, including with the number of fare gates, but it’s still fine. Now, something I didn’t realize when I visited Orient Heights is that it actually has a pretty large parking lot. The lot is right next to the Blue Line yard (there’s a big train yard here), and has 434 spaces! I can’t believe I didn’t notice this before!
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| Snowy… |
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| I’m honestly not sure if the snowy picture above is at Orient Heights or not, so here’s another one that I know was taken at the station. |
Station: Orient Heights
Ridership: I was really expecting this to be higher. The station gets 2,833 riders per weekday, which makes it the third-worst station on the above-ground section of the Blue Line in terms of ridership. I mean, this station is the “gateway” station into Winthrop, and has a sizeable residential area around it! I was really expecting more riders.
Pros: Okay, so this station is actually pretty nice. And I’m gonna be honest, it’s pretty good aesthetically. It’s also really energy efficient, and has a really big parking lot considering its ridership. For a Blue Line station, the bus connections are plenty.
Cons: The emergency exits on the platforms need to be a little better at keeping people out, since I saw a lot of people coming into the station through them when I was here. Also, I guess there are a few aesthetic decisions I don’t really like, but on a whole the station looks nice.
Nearby and Noteworthy: I have a friend that used to live in this area who could probably give a few noteworthy businesses. That said, he doesn’t read this blog, and I don’t know anything about the area, so…sorry.
Final Verdict: 7/10
Overall, I guess I do like this station! I wasn’t expecting it to get an especially high score, but a seven is pretty good. I think my real problem with this station is that it’s still generic in terms of looks. There’s nothing here that makes it stand out from the crowd (except for the fare gate layout, which isn’t that noteworthy). But I guess I do like Orient Heights after all.
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Wood Island
A blog post?! Gee, it’s been so long since the last one, I hope I still remember how to write these…
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| It’s been a while since this picture was taken. |
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| Is that a “wet floor” sign? I don’t remember the floor being too wet… |
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| The mezzanine. |
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| I guess this is the best busway picture I could get. |
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| Nobody was using the bike shelter, and for good reason… |
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| I assume most of this snow has melted by now. |
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| Goodbye, train! |
Airport
Being a Red Line user, the Silver Line is the much more efficient way of getting to the airport for me. But for Blue, Orange, and Green Line (before Government Center was closed) users, Airport Station is more direct. And most tourists would probably use the station too. Luckily for them, this place is fantastic.
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| Just look at this platform! It’s beautiful! |
I love the platform – the whole thing is sheltered. Not only that, but the ceiling is really high. It’s very well lit, with lots of natural light getting in (the line is above ground here). There’s lots of historical information lining the walls, and quite a few benches, too. Things seem to end up in the rafters a lot, though.
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| The center of the platform. |
In the center of the platform, the ceilings get very high to accommodate two footbridges. They go between the main mezzanine and the Bremen Street entrance – one within fare control and one outside. This center portion has some really high windows, which have some cool artwork on them. And we can’t forget about how Blue Line trains switch power at Airport!
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| The beautiful main mezzanine. |
The main mezzanine is huge. It has a bunch of fare gates, anticipating huge crowds. Aside from schedules for every bus route on the system, there’s also a handy-dandy board showing departures to and arrivals from the airport. It does have an abundance of airline ads, but there are also these really cool payphones that look like rocket capsules about to take off. Also, there are some really random brochures. Why is there a brochure for Toronto at Boston’s airport?
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| The busway. |
The busway where the airport shuttle buses pick up is pretty simple. It’s a simple shelter running down the length of a sidewalk. There are some benches along it, too. The busway has a second lane, which is unsheltered and only meant for buses dropping people off. Airport Station is also served by the early-morning 171 bus, and once they build the Silver Line to Chelsea, that will be stopping here, too.
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| The much smaller Bremen Street mezzanine. |
The station’s second entrance is on the other side. Its mezzanine is much less grand than the main one, with only two fare gates. That’s not to say it’s dirty or ugly, though. Indeed, this whole station is really modern and clean. The Bremen Street entrance probably doesn’t get as much use, though, so only two fare gates are necessary.
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| It’s so big! |
The station looks really big if you look at it from the Bremen Street side. This entrance leads to a pedestrian path that goes over and under two highways, and into a nice-looking park. This then goes to a residential neighborhood, though unfortunately there’s no T symbol outside the park.
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| You can see the portal in the background. |
UPDATE 4/22/18: The SL3 stops here now, so I figured I would update this review to talk about that part of the station. This is copied and pasted from my SL3 stations review:
Alright, it would appear that Airport Station didn’t get any kind of modernization. So…we’ve still got poles with paint peeling, rusting benches that have been here for years, and maps that don’t even say that the SL3 exists. (UPDATE 4/24/18: the maps have been updated!) Our one indication that a bus stops here is the smallest berth signs ever that hang from the roof of the shelter.
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| Oh…uh…hmm… |
Station: Airport
Ridership: As you might expect, this station gets pretty high ridership for the Blue Line. Its 7,429 daily riders make it the second-busiest non-transfer Blue Line station. And not all these people are going to the airport – there are also residents of nearby neighborhoods who use this station.
Pros: I mean, I just love everything about this station. It’s all sheltered, it’s beautiful, and the mezzanine has some fantastic amenities. It’s annoying that you have to take a shuttle bus to get to the airport itself, but imagine how expensive it would be to give the airport direct train service. The shuttle buses run pretty frequently, anyway, and this is the most direct link for those who use the Blue, Green, and Orange Lines.
Cons: I just wish there was a T logo on Bremen Street. How expensive can it be to put simple signs up?
Nearby and Noteworthy: The airport, I guess. There are some businesses along nearby Bennington Street, too.
Final Verdict: 9/10
Airport Station is beautiful. I love all the station’s aesthetics, and it has some great amenities in the main mezzanine. Something I didn’t mention was the elevator in the mezzanine that was double the size of a normal elevator, which was amazing to discover! I just wish there was a sign on Bremen Street, but I guess you can’t have everything. Even though a sign wouldn’t be too hard to install!
UPDATE 4/22/18: Since the Silver Line station is technically part of Airport, this score should really be dropped to something like a 7/10, so…yeah…
UPDATE 6/23/19: But now the berth signs are bigger! I dunno, a 7 seems unfair, the score should be updated to an 8/10.
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An increase in schoolwork recently means I won’t be able to post nearly as much as I was doing before. I’ll probably be able to one or two posts a week, hopefully. Sorry, everyone.
Random Photos (Videos): Blue Line Train Switching Power
A Blue Line train switching from third rail to pantograph power at Airport Station. It was a lot less exciting than I thought it would be… If the video below doesn’t load, watch it here.
Random Photos: Balloon in the Rafters
Okay, what is it with things getting stuck in the roof at Airport Station? First it was a squirrel, now this:
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| It wasn’t a happy Valentine’s Day for whomever lost the balloon… |
Service Change: Logan Airport Shuttle – Route 33
Massport runs a few free shuttle bus routes within Logan Airport (for the full list, click here). The one I took was the 33, which goes from Terminals C and E to the Blue Line Airport Station. The bus itself was really nice – it was pretty much the same as the Back Bay Logan Express, except articulated. So basically, 2 times cooler.
I took it from Terminal E, and the route was quite simple. Leaving the terminal, we passed a gas station, then headed down Service Road. We went by some industrial buildings, and arrived at the station busway shortly thereafter. So, yeah, there wasn’t much to talk about… review of Airport Station coming soon!
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| Blurry… |
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| The inside. |
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| Looking up towards the front. |
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| I had to get a bus inception picture, but this one is terrible! |
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| The bus, presumably going back to the terminals. |
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| They even have countdown clocks! This one’s at the Blue Line station. |
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| A better picture of one of the buses. |
Service Change: Back Bay Logan Express
Recently, Massport began running a bus route from the Hynes Convention Center and Copley Square to Logan Airport. It’s free if you have a CharlieCard, but if you lack one (presumably like most people who would use this bus), it costs five dollars one way. Is it worth the cost? Well, not if you take it during rush hour…
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| The sign at Hynes. |
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| That sliding front door is amazing! |
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| The front of the bus. |
I got on at the Hynes Convention Center (note that it leaves from the convention center, not the Green Line station). The service runs every 20 minutes, which is a pretty good headway. After waiting on one bus for a few minutes, they transferred everyone to another one (for some reason) and soon we were off.
The inside was very swanky. The seats were mostly sideways-facing (boo!), but there were some forward-facing ones in the back. There was a luggage rack, as well as a screen up front that said the date, time, and next stop. An automatic announcer said the names of the stops, and he sounded really soothing. “Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride” was a nice touch. But if I had actually been trying to catch a flight, this ride would’ve been anything but enjoyable.
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| I love it! |
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| The ads were all airport-related stuff. |
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| No room for an “A” to properly abbreviate “station.” |
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| Not a good time to go to the airport, evidently. |
We headed down Boylston Street, going by lots of businesses and apartments. The Boston Public Library signified that we were in Copley Square, and a few more people got on here. We then turned onto Clarendon Street, and then onto Saint James Ave, now heading westward. After that, we merged onto I-90 – away from the airport!
Yes, the reason the ride took so long is that the bus goes down I-90 all the way out to Allston, then turns around and heads back toward the airport. Although this is more or less the most efficient route coming back from the airport, there are more direct ways to get to the airport from Copley Square. Regardless, this is what the bus does, so we were stuck with it.
Leaving the I-90 tunnel through Copley Square, we passed Fenway Park and B.U., then got a nice view when the highway went elevated. We then used a handy-dandy turnaround road to go back eastward, and headed back the way we came.
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| Assorted buildings. |
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| The Boston skyline! |
This is where we hit traffic. It took forever just to get back to where we started, and we still had to get to the airport! Coming out of the Copley Square tunnel on the eastern side, we soon entered another tunnel, the Ted Williams. After about 50 million hours of sitting in traffic, the eventual spotting of daylight certainly lifted my spirits.
We came out onto an elevated road, which made a tight 180 degree turn around, and we soon entered Terminal A. From there, we went through the Terminal B parking garage, as well as through Terminal C, and I got off at Terminal E. Looking at the bus, it now had nothing on the destination board – perhaps it was going to go around the airport again to pick people up. I do know that the trip is scheduled to take 20 minutes, but for me, it took 50. I’d take the Silver Line anyday (though actually, that would’ve gotten stuck in the same Ted Williams Tunnel traffic jam).
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| I see planes and automobiles, but no trains. |
Landsdowne (Yawkey)
UPDATE 4/8/2019: Yeah, this station’s called Landsdowne now. Nothing else has changed, so I’m just gonna keep the review as is. Carry on.
This station’s kinda weird. Tucked away behind a parking lot on Brookline Ave, Yawkey was originally opened just for ball games. It was even more hidden then, with only a tiny mini-high platform. The station began to be served regularly by peak-hour trains in 2001. Last year, a brand new Yawkey Station was opened with high-level platforms, and now all trains stop there. Does the station seem all that modern, though? Let’s take a look.
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| Looking at the station from the parking lot. |
I think the parking lot next to the station is an all-purpose lot most times and a Fenway Park lot game days. It’s kind of cool in that it has a bunch of big numbers in it – I believe they represent different Red Sox players. There’s a T logo visible from the parking lot, but none on Brookline Ave, for some reason.
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| The second entrance from Beacon Street. |
Does Yawkey want to be a “hidden gem” or something? Because it does not want to let people know it exists. The entrances on Beacon Street are simple staircases leading down to each platform. Their only indication that they lead to a train station is this tiny black sign that says “Yawkey.” Good advertising, MBTA.
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| At least they thought to put some T logos up on the platform. |
The station has an interesting layout, with two side platforms facing the same direction. These are connected by a big overpass, which will also connect to a development once it’s built (the station will also be entirely solar-powered when the development is finished). As for the platform itself, it’s mostly open air, with a sheltered portion near the overpass. The shelter is really stark and bland, though.
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| Ugh. |
Ditto for the overpass. There’s a lot of steel and concrete everywhere that doesn’t do the station any favors aesthetically. There are two elevators for each platform, which is more than enough based on this station’s ridership. That said, the ridership is expected to increase when the development opens up.
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| Nice view from the overpass. No train pictures, unfortunately. |
Station: Yawkey
Ridership: Well, the Blue Book isn’t much use because it only counts inbound riders (21, if you were wondering). Yawkey’s Wikipedia page says the station had 585 daily riders in 2007, but that doesn’t mean much now that it’s 2015. Anyway, regular commuters here are usually headed for Kenmore, B.U., or the Longwood Medical Area.
Pros: It’s nice that there’s a station for commuters to the above locations. And this is a good option for people out west coming into Boston to see a baseball game. Yawkey is fully accessible with the renovation.
Cons: It’s so bland, though! I would never guess that this station is brand new! And while the Beacon Street entrance isn’t so bad since you can clearly see the station from there, Brookline Ave really needs some signage. This station is tucked away otherwise.
Nearby and Noteworthy: Fenway Park, and lots of bars and sports-related restaurants..
Final Verdict: 5/10
This is definitely a useful station, and it’s great that it’s here. But Yawkey has a lot of issues in terms of signage and aesthetics. It’s so hard to find! And so boring and stark! Maybe it’ll look better when they build that development? We’ll see…
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Chestnut Hill
Too much to review, too little time. I have a non-MBTA bus to write about, and that’ll certainly come out at some point, but I figured I’d get a few stations done first. Since I just reviewed the 60, here’s Chestnut Hill, the closest station to that bus. And being a D Line station, it’s pretty nice.
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| That wastebasket is convenient. |
Chestnut Hill has two entrances. The first and more obvious one is on Hammond Street, which is mostly residential (though there are a few malls on Boylston Street to the south). It features a T symbol, a station sign, and a strangely-placed wastebasket.
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| A nice path for sure, but how am I supposed to know there’s a train station here? |
The second entrance is on Middlesex Road. There’s a school and a post office near this entrance, but it’s much less obvious. It’s just a small path with admittedly cool streetlights along it. It doesn’t even have a T symbol on Middlesex Road! How is anyone supposed to know it’s there?
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| Not the best vantage point. |
Chestnut Hill’s parking lot is pretty big for a local station – it has 70 spaces. There’s a big sign with lots of taped over and added sections that explains how the parking works. The system seems pretty old fashioned, with manual coin slots. I believe this is the norm for the D Line, though. The station also has a sheltered bike area, with eight spaces.
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| Lots of snow buildup on the platform. |
The platform is as nice as any other D Line platform. It doesn’t have much on the outbound side, which makes sense this far west. On the inbound side, there’s a classic wooden shelter, painted green. There’s also one of those heated CharlieCard shelters, and an old, gross, glass shelter. It was a really quiet, tranquil wait for the train, another standard of the D.
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| The D Line looks so good in the snow! |
Station: Chestnut Hill
Ridership: Pretty standard ridership for the D – about 1,400 boardings per weekday. These are mostly just local riders from surrounding residential areas, though some people may use the station for access to the malls to the south.
Pros: It’s a standard D Line station, so I really like it. It has a sizeable parking lot, and the platform has that tranquil D Line feel to it.
Cons: The entrance on Middlesex Road could really use some signage. Even a T symbol would be fine. Also, I really wish the yellow line on the platform was a bit clearer. In its current faded state, I couldn’t tell where the platform began and where it ended!
Nearby and Noteworthy: The malls to the south are the most you’ll get around here in terms of retail. The post office looked nice, but you know, it’s a post office.
Final Verdict: 7/10
All these D Line stations seem to be getting short reviews and 7’s across the board. Chestnut Hill has some flaws, namely a lack of signage and an unclear yellow line on the platform (which admittedly could mean the difference between getting run over by a train or not). However, that D Line tranquility always wins me over…
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