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…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
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…
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
60 (Chestnut Hill – Kenmore Station via Brookline Village and Cypress Street)
Man, there are a lot more buses that I rode but didn’t review than I thought. The 60 is yet another one of these – I rode the 60 a few years ago, but didn’t review it because I didn’t have any pictures of it. Well, I’ve got some pictures now, so it’s time to take a trip out to Chestnut Hill.
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| Come on, Foodler! You’ve already monopolized so much MBTA ad space! You had to go and get yourself a bus, didn’t you? |
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| Come on, Foodler! That face looks ridiculous. |
55 (Jersey and Queensberry – Copley Square or Park and Tremont Streets via Ipswich Street)
The 55 is an odd little route. Running between Park Street (or Copley Square nights and weekends) and the quiet West Fens neighborhood south of Kenmore Square, it’s certainly a “locals-only” route. Weirder still is that almost all of the 55 runs along with the Green Line, the only unique portion being a small loop around West Fens. Let’s take a closer look.
It’s hard to tell if there’s a proper bus stop at Park Street Station, so I was waiting at a marked stop further down Tremont Street. The bus was already five minutes late when it stopped back at the station (I guess there is a stop there), but then the driver turned off the vehicle. It sat there for about 10 minutes before finally turning on again and heading down Tremont Street. I have no idea why the driver decided to do an unscheduled layover, but whatever..
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| Hurry up! And fix your destination board! |
There was a lot of traffic, and it took quite a while to get down Tremont Street. We passed Boylston Station, then went a block south of the Boston Common, getting into the Theatre District a bit. Turning onto Stuart Street, we went by some restaurants and a cool-looking glass building. We turned onto Charles Street South a block later, and then after another block we turned onto Park Plaza.
Going inbound, the 55 is right alongside the Public Garden (as well as the Green Line), but the outbound route is a block away. The street became Saint James Ave and we passed both John Hancock Buildings, then entered Copley Square. We turned onto Huntington Ave, then Belvidere Street, going by the Prudential Center.
Turning onto Boylston Street, we went over the Mass Turnpike, and the buildings turned to smaller apartments. We turned onto Ipswich Street, which went right next to the Turnpike and under the Charlesgate bridge. On the other side, we passed by Fenway Park, then came back onto Boylston Street, where some new apartments are being built.
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| See that blurry thing? That’s the Fenway Park parking garage! Wow! |
We turned onto Kilmarnock Street, entering a cute neighborhood with lots of brownstones. We then turned onto Queensberry Street, which was already narrow without massive snowbanks on either side. It was a bit of a challenge getting through here. Jersey and Queensbury is technically the last stop, but I stayed on for one more so I could catch the 60 on Brookline Ave. Review of that coming soon…
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| What a nice neighborhood. |
Route: 55 (Jersey and Queensberry – Copley Square or Park and Tremont Streets via Ipswich Street)
Ridership: Like I said, this is a very local route. There were only about 10 people on my ride, and a lot of them got off in places with easy Green Line access. The route only gets about 900 riders per weekday, 400 per Saturday, and 300 per Sunday.
Pros: Well, it’s a really nice ride, I’ll give it that. You see a lot of Boston landmarks if you take it from Park Street. And this route is mostly frequented by elderly or disabled people who live in West Fens, so it gives them local access to Copley Square and Park Street. Also, the route has a surprisingly good schedule for a small local route – every 17 minutes rush hour, every hour weekdays (admittedly not great), every 40 minutes nights, every 35 minutes Saturdays, and every half hour Sundays.
Cons: First of all, it’s a really slow ride. Even on a midday trip there was lots of traffic, and the bus ended up being a half hour late. My main problem with the route, though, is how much time it spends travelling alongside the Green Line. Does it really need to parallel the Green Line the whole way?
Nearby and Noteworthy: Like I said, this route goes by lots of Boston landmarks. I wouldn’t use it to get to a ball game, though.
Final Verdict: 5/10
The 55 could use some work. I really enjoyed my ride, and it has a good schedule, but it spends so much time paralleling the Green Line! I know it serves Copley Square this way, and it’s probably deliberate, but what if they changed up the route a bit? Here’s my proposal:
It basically converts the 55 into a loop that also serves the northern part of the Back Bay. The inbound route stays the same, so it still serves Copley Square, but the outbound route goes along Beacon to serve a neighborhood with no bus or subway service. I’m not sure if this would get any ridership, but it’s just a fun little idea.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
“B” Asks…
90 (Davis Square – Wellington Station via Sullivan Square Station and Assembly Mall)
I can handle a bus being 15 minutes late. Heck, even a half hour late is tolerable. You know, it happens. But 40 minutes late is just unacceptable! That said, the 5:20 trip of the 90 from Wellington to Davis seemed to be cursed from the beginning: faulty destination boards, excessively beeping fare machines, horrible traffic on narrow roads, and getting stuck in snowbanks were all highlights of my ride. This is gonna be a long one.
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| A bit blurry, but it was getting dark outside. |
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| Oh, for goodness’ sake. |
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| The 90 on Highland Ave – obviously not the same bus I took for this review. |
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| And this one’s even more obviously not my bus! I have to wonder why it looks so high up in the picture, though. |
110 (Wonderland or Broadway and Park Ave – Wellington Station via Park Ave and Woodlawn)
“It’s actually rather uninviting, but there are some businesses quite close to the stop. We didn’t get to try any of them, however, as a 110 came (review coming at some point) and we continued our journey.” – Miles on the MBTA’s review of the 111. Well, if by “some point,” I meant over a year and a half later, then I guess I was telling the truth! Yes, for some reason I never got around to reviewing the 110 then. But now, let’s remedy that, as I got the chance to take the whole route all over again.
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| Excellent timing! The bus was there right when my train arrived. |
Leaving the Wonderland busway, we made our way down North Shore Road, then turned onto Beach Street. This was a residential neighborhood, but there was a small plaza when the street merged into a rotary. From there, it turned back to houses, and continued like that until Broadway.
We were on Broadway for about a half-block before turning onto Park Ave, going solo. Passing a park (the street’s namesake, perhaps?), it then became entirely residential. I was wondering if the 110 was on its snow route, which bypasses a portion of Park Ave, but evidently we weren’t as we floored it over a huge hill. We crossed over Route 1 and stopped at Woodlawn, the quiet terminus of the 111.
This was also where we entered Everett, and Park Ave became Elm Street. It stayed residential all the way until the massive Everett High School. Here, we turned onto Ferry Street, which was a mix of houses and businesses. All of a sudden, we reached a massive traffic jam at the intersection with Chelsea Street. It took a full five minutes to make it through, after which we turned onto Chelsea.
The street was mostly houses, with a few apartments. Eventually, we joined some other routes when we turned onto Broadway (a different Broadway from the one before). It was lined with businesses, but before it got industrial, we turned off onto Revere Beach Parkway. Surprisingly, it was a quick run without any traffic, and we soon pulled into the Wellington busway.
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| Looks pretty bleak… |
Route: 110 (Wonderland or Broadway and Park Ave – Wellington Station via Park Ave and Woodlawn)
Ridership: This route gets very high ridership, all things considered – there were about 35 people on my ride. However, in total, the 110 ranks 38th compared to other MBTA buses on weekdays, with almost 3,500 daily riders! It performs similarly well on weekends, with over 1,600 riders on Saturdays and a little over 1,000 riders on Sundays. On my ride, most people who got on at Wonderland got off along Park Ave, with people starting to get on for Wellington after Woodlawn.
Pros: This is an important crosstown route up north, cutting across both Revere and Everett. It has a good rush hour schedule (every 20 minutes, with additional short-turns from Wellington to Broadway and Park Ave) and a decent Saturday schedule (every 35 minutes). Alas, the rest of the time, the route is a bit… terrible. Read on…
Cons: Yeah, so considering how high this route’s ridership is, it has some terrible headways. It runs every 40 minutes during the day, and every hour nights and Sundays! Come on, 110! That’s awful!
Nearby and Noteworthy: Beats me. We went by some small businesses, but none of the ones I saw seemed especially notable.
Final Verdict: 6/10
I never know how to give a number to clearly important routes with really bad schedules. Do I increase the score because lots of people rely on the route, or do I lower it because the schedule is so bad? I decided to do the latter for this one, though not by too much. An improvement to the 110’s schedule would be great, though.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates (you’ll need ’em!)
Oh, you know, it’ll take 30 days minimum for the MBTA to get back to normal, and that’s without any big blizzards! Also, I’m pretty upset that Beverly Scott resigned as GM. I liked her!
Random Photos: Revere Beach in the Snow
I’m not really a big fan of Revere Beach, but it was actually pretty cool in the snow. Maybe it was because the snow covered up the constant litter that permeates the beach in the summer.
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| “Unguarded Waterfront,” says the sign. I think that goes without saying! |
Random Photos: Squirrel in the Rafters
I’m back! I was finally able to actually get on the T! A lot of crazy stuff has been happening lately what with the blizzards, the shuttle buses, and Beverly Scott’s resignation (which I’m pretty upset about), but I haven’t been able to report on any of it. Instead, here’s a squirrel I found at Airport Station! Fun!
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| I thought it was a rat at first, and was kind of disappointed when it wasn’t. |
Brookline Village
After a trio of southern Red Line stations, let’s take a trip out west to the Green Line. In particular, we’re heading out on the D branch. And even more specific, we’re looking at Brookline Village, where my mother dropped me off from JP so I could take the train home. This is gonna be a quick one…
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| The shady, snowy platforms. |
The station has a pretty urban feel, with tallish buildings on either side. It still has that tranquil D branch feel to it, though, with cool wooden shelters on both platforms (take that, Longwood). The station also has one of those CharlieCard shelters that come up along the D branch. These may not sound like much, but consider that the alternative, Riverway, is literally just a sign with a “T” on it.
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| One of the awesome wooden shelters. |
The bus situation at Brookline Village is a whole other story. It’s only served by three routes, but they go all over the place. Even looking at Google Maps, I can’t tell which bus stops where! I do know that there’s a complete absence of shelters around the station. Now that’s just annoying! But the station itself is still nice.
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| A train coming in. |
Station: Brookline Village
Ridership: With 3,230 riders per day, this is one of the highest-ridership stations on the above-ground portions of the Green Line. This is probably because the station is right in downtown Brookline.
Pros: It’s a nice D branch station. It has a more urban feel than some of the stations further west, but somehow still feels kind of tranquil. It’s that D branch power…
Cons: The buses around here go all over the place, and it’s hard to find some of them. Also, Brookline Village is kind of hidden on a side street. From Route 9, the only indication that a station exists is a small T logo on the side of the road.
Nearby and Noteworthy: When I was in second grade, I think, we took a field trip to the Puppet Showcase Theater right next to the station. I remember enjoying the show…
Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s just a standard D branch station. It’s not really worth seeing or anything, but it’s a nice place to wait. This was a short review for a simple station – a solid 7.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Braintree
Every Braintree branch station was originally opened with some form of parking (Quincy Center’s garage has since closed, but the point still stands). For the more northerly stations, the parking lots are somewhat secondary to the neighborhoods around them. But Quincy Adams and Braintree are basically dominated by massive parking garages. Today we’ll be taking a look at the latter.
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| The busway. Look how high that ceiling is! |
I came into this station from the busway, so we’ll start there. And I have to say, this has to be the most overblown busway on the entire system. For only two bus connections (the 230 and 236), we get a big long road, a massively high ceiling, and countdown clocks for the Red Line. (Yes!!!) I guess I can’t complain, since it is rather nice, and certainly straightforward. It’s just odd that they would put so much into a busway served by only two routes.
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| The footbridge and T logo in the sunset. |
From the busway, there’s a footbridge that leads out to the parking garage. The garage, by the way, is huge. It has 1,322 spaces, and yet it still gets overcrowded, with a less than 1% availability rate on weekdays. There’s a big T logo on the roof of the garage that probably isn’t visible from any roads, but it’s still kinda cool. There are a bunch of road signs advertising the station, though.
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| The ramps to the Commuter Rail platform. |
The Commuter Rail platform is slightly north of the Red Line platform. It’s accessed by two ramps (one from the footbridge and one directly from the busway) that pass over Union Street. The scary part of getting to the platform is a level crossing over one of the tracks. Make sure you look both ways…
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| The Commuter Rail platform, with some freight on the right. |
The Commuter Rail platform is pretty standard, as far as Commuter Rail platforms go. It’s a high-level center platform, with a simple shelter going along some of it. It also has an unsheltered portion that seems to be there just so longer trains can fit.
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| No Commuter Rail trains, but there was this cool CSX sighting. |
As for the Red Line platform, I believe the busway is the only place you can enter to get to it. Outside of the entrance, there are a few newspaper boxes, as well as a wastebasket. Also, buried in the snow was a fallen sign for the convenience store in the station. I don’t know what it was doing outside – it seemed pretty useless.
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| The interesting waiting area. |
Before we get to the mezzanine proper, though, I’d like to mention the station’s waiting area outside of fare control. It features some payphones, a bunch of benches, and a TV that was showing football when I was at the station. There’s also the aforementioned convenience store, with the generic name of “Braintree Cafe and Convenience.” I don’t think we’ll ever see a name as cool as the one at JFK/UMASS.
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| The mezzanine. |
The mezzanine is fine. Its fare machines are sort of spread around the place, anticipating people coming in from different directions. Both the mezzanine and the waiting area suffer from bland architecture, but it’s not unclean or anything. Past the fare gates, there are two sets of stairs on either side heading up to the platform. Interestingly (and ingeniously), one of them has an up escalator and one has a down escalator.
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| The unique-looking platform. |
I have to say, Braintree’s platform is pretty unique. Pretty much the whole thing is sheltered by a white ceiling, which leads down to similar-colored walls. As you can see in the picture above, it’s not the sort of architecture you see too often on the MBTA, if at all. Benches get their own enclosed areas, which are much nicer than at Wollaston (among other stations). Since both platforms are inbound (there’s a crossover to the north), they have these nice red “Next Train” signs to let you know where trains are arriving. Nice touch, Braintree. Nice touch.
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| Night was falling and my camera wasn’t cooperating. This was the best I could get. |
Station: Braintree
Ridership: Pretty much as expected, this station’s ridership is fairly low. There are about 5,125 riders per day here, and it’s ranked just below Broadway. The Commuter Rail ridership is much lower, with only 72 people boarding here per day. The Blue Book only counts inbound trips for the Commuter Rail, though, so there might be more people who head outbound from here.
Pros: There are quite a few amenities here. The busway is great (if a bit overkill), the waiting room is pretty cool, and the platform is unique. This is also a great park and ride station, since it’s right next to a Route 3 interchange, and the garage is huge.
Cons: The Commuter Rail platform is kind of far from the Red Line platform, and the level crossing required to get to it is sort of scary to cross. Also, the mezzanine and waiting room have fairly bland architecture, but this station never feels dingy at all.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The surroundings of the station aren’t pedestrian-friendly at all, but Bugaboo Creek is a 15 minute walk away. It’s the only remaining location in greater Boston, but I do have to complain that they stopped singing the birthday song. They stopped singing the birthday song!
Final Verdict: 7/10
I think I like this station a lot more than I should. I normally hate these park and ride stations with nothing much else of note, but I do like Braintree. Indeed, it does have a lot of good qualities. The waiting room, in particular, is a nice touch.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
Wollaston
UPDATE 8/16/19: This station has been completely rebuilt! Check out the new review here.
Wollaston is definitely one of the most notable stations on the Red Line. Does that mean it’s good? Hahahahahahaha, absolutely not. And being the only non-wheelchair accessible station on the Red Line isn’t something you want to be called “notable” for.
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| Sigh…what am I getting into here? |
The platform is really ugly. Although it’s technically elevated, it’s not that high up and there isn’t much to see. It’s also in brutalist-style, making it really imposing. The benches are in these ugly waiting areas with peeling paint and dirty glass, but due to the weather, most people were waiting in the mezzanine. Speaking of which,..
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| The mezzanine was still freezing, though. |
Descending the stairs (there’s no elevator), you reach an enclosed area with a couple of vending machines. After passing through the fare gates, there’s the mezzanine, which for some reason is below ground level. This means that it’s prone to flooding – probably not the best design choice to put it below ground, then.
When it’s not flooding, the mezzanine still isn’t very good. It’s spacious and all, but the architecture is pretty bland and ugly. And why does this station have an open skylight? For one thing, you can’t see the sky because the platform roof is in the way. For another, it just makes the place colder! The mezzanine also makes sure to remind you what country we’re in, with no fewer than three American flags in it.
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| That station sign is comically tiny. |
The first entrance leads out to the station’s parking lot. It’s fairly large, with 550 spaces. The entrance, however, is still ugly and brutalist, with a tiny “Wollaston” sign. Really, it’s super small. Surprisingly, this station also has a “Pedal and Park” bike cage, which is a nice touch. It’s good to have these facilities in the middle of a dense area like this.
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| How is anyone supposed to notice this entrance? |
On the other side of the tracks is another entrance. This one is pretty hidden – the only indication that it exists is a low Wollaston sign and a small T logo almost right next to a traffic light. Interestingly, there’s a small Chinatown on this side of the station, with a few businesses featuring Chinese lettering. And further down the street is a bus stop for the 211 and 217. It’s just a stop – no shelter or anything. But I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some concrete monstrosity bus stop, just like the rest of the station.
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| A train leaving. |
Station: Wollaston
Broadway
I wanted to head down to Quincy Center, but the first train that had come was an Ashmont train. Rather than just wait it out for the next Braintree one (in ten minutes), I decided to just get on the Ashmont train. I didn’t want to have to change trains at JFK/UMASS, though, because it would be freezing. And I would have a few more chances to go to Andrew because there are some buses that terminate there. Broadway it is, then!
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| I love this platform! |
The bulk of Broadway’s platform is really awesome. It’s a bunch of white pillars lined up, and each one has four different colored tiles. Each of those tiles has a different image on it – 200 in all, done by school students. The platform does have random pipes, but an effort is made to hide them. Take that, Prudential!
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| An old sign on the wall! |
The MBTA even left an old Broadway sign on the wall when they renovated the station in 1985. Speaking of the walls, this may sound weird, but I really like them! They’re just white squares, but, I don’t know, they make the place seem brighter or something. I can’t say I’m really a fan of the dingy ceiling, though you can’t see it when you’re standing between the columns.
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| The “dodgier” end of the platform. |
But there’s another part of the platform. I believe this is where they extended it for six car trains, because it looks like they really didn’t care about aesthetics when they built it. The columns turn from bright white to a blood-red color. Also, the ceiling stops trying to hide its dinginess and random pipes, while the walls turn from white to “gross tunnel gray.” I think I’ll head back to the nice part, okay?
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| Some really cool artwork. |
Leaving the platform and turning around, there’s some excellent artwork above the stairs. It’s a bunch of steel sculptures of “domestic objects” that look fantastic. As for the stairs themselves, they also have an upward-only escalator to go along with them.
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| The mezzanine. |
Alas, the mezzanine is a bit of a mess. Long and thin, it stretches between the staircases to both entrances. The white tiled walls are nice, but the ceiling is low and ugly (random pipes galore). And if my memory serves me right, there are only fare gates on one side of the mezzanine and none for the other entrance. That’s just ridiculous.
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| The secondary entrance. |
The western entrance of Broadway is in this weird island in the middle of what becomes the Broadway Bridge. The entrance itself is nice, with glass and a T symbol facing an intersection. The weird thing about it is the sheltered bench on it. There aren’t any buses that stop here – why is this set up like a stop, then?
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| A rather tight place to take a picture. |
The main entrance makes itself obvious, with a larger-than-average “Broadway” sign on the outside. Although somewhat cramped, this one also has glass, as well as some newspaper boxes and a wastebasket. There’s also a sheltered bench, but you know, buses actually stop at this stop. Broadway’s connections are pretty slim, though, with only the 9 and 11 to City Point, and the 47 to Central Square, Cambridge.
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| My camera didn’t seem to like Broadway, so it gave me a bunch of blurry pictures. |
Station: Broadway
Ridership: This is one of the lesser-used Red Line stations, with only about 5,250 riders per day. This can probably be attributed to the lack of bus connections, as well as the fact that the station has mostly industrial surroundings. The exception is to the east, where there are apartments and businesses.
Pros: I love the main part of the platform. From the art to the colors to the old station sign, this is really nice. Also, the entrances are pretty good.
Cons: The extended part of the platform is kind of dumpy and dark, though. The mezzanine is quite bad, and this station doesn’t have too many bus connections.
Nearby and Noteworthy: The Red Line’s Cabot Yard is to the west of the station, and you can get a good view of it (as well as of the Boston skyline) from the Broadway Bridge.
Final Verdict: 6/10
This is one of those “meh” stations that has good elements to it, but isn’t worth seeing because of the other bad bits. Broadway has a great platform, as least the main part of it, and the art in the station is great. But the platform gets much worse at its extended portion, and the mezzanine is terrible. The station doesn’t get much ridership, either – it’s one of the lowest-ridership Red Line stations, in fact.
Latest MBTA News: Service Updates
I feel bad for not being able to report about the MBTA of the past week. Um…well, basically, snow + old MBTA trains = bad things. Pretty much.