Other Public Transit – Page 7

Rector St. (Line #1)

There are two Rector Streets, and don’t worry, we’ll cover both of them on this blog. But, firstly, we’ll cover the #1 line (ex-IRT) station. For a hot minute after Hurricane Sandy, this was the end of the #1 line. Let’s look at this station.

The station consists of two side platforms, no crossover, a REALLY SMALL fare control mezzanine (possibly the world’s smallest?!), and your usual subway station platform amenities. The IRT mosaic work looks pretty nice, if basic. At street level, it’s lower Manhattan so it’s pretty busy. Overall though, it’s not a terrible station, but as far as local-only stations go, I’ve still seen some better.

THAT’S IT – THAT’S THE FARE CONTROL!!! JUST TWO TOTAL TURNSTILES!!!

Looking to the other side and towards South Ferry

Next stop: Courtlandt St.-World Trade Center!

The good: It serves the local area, and is one of the closest stops to Battery Park City (& the western waterfront). It, operationally, can also be used as a terminal in a pinch by redirecting trains into the old South Ferry balloon loop.

The bad: The tiny as hell mezzanine and the fact it isn’t accessible! Also, it’s kinda close to the World Trade Center station complex, but whatever.

Nearby points of interest: Battery Park City and the western waterfront, along with Trinity Church! There’s also some luxury (read: for the REALLY wealthy) housing, some shopping, among other things down here.

Transit connections:
7th Ave. Lines (1)
MTA bus (At Trinity Pl/Thames St.: M55, BxM18, QM25, QM65, SIM15)
NJT bus (120, at Trinity & Thames)

Overall, it’s a more quiet local station, as far as they go, but it’s still near some cool stuff. It’s just that hot DAMN is that fare control tiny

Rating: 5.5/10

Broad Channel (Line A, Rockaway Shuttle)

By some metrics, this station is the least-used station on the entire system. Located in the neighborhood of the same name, Broad Channel is the transfer point between the A line (to Mott Ave.) and the Rockaway Shuttle (to Rockaway Park-Beach 116th St.), and is one of the weirdest neighborhoods in the entire city.

The station, and the entire section of the subway in the Rockaways, is all ex-LIRR territory, and was handed over to the IND in the 1950s as, at the time, the LIRR had a small problem known as “bankruptcy”. Service was killed initially because of a fire on one of the bridges over Jamaica Bay. But, in 1956, the IND restored service to the Rockaways as an extension of what’s now the A line. With the history out of the way, Broad Channel is relatively pretty normal but also unique. The neighborhood is more or less what you’d expect from a summer getaway village rather than in NYC proper. The station isn’t accessible though, as there’s no ramp or elevator from the platforms to the mezzanine, or a step-free way in or out of the station. Also interestingly, despite being a major transfer station, the station’s actually not located on the main road through the area. As for the platforms, it’s standard with benches and countdown clocks. There’s also a station agent (whom yelled at myself and Honaj for filming and photographing), and OMNY machines in the station mezzanine. In terms of vibes, I’d say it’s like if Narragansett densified and got a subway station, but the subway station was wildly out of place. The station itself though? It’s okay.

This is a Far Rockaway-Mott Ave.-bound A train. The next stop is Beach 67th St.

OMNY – at the least used (by entries) station. Also, a reflection of me!

The good: It’s the only subway station in this part of Queens – furthermore, it’s the only chance to transfer between the Rockaway Shuttle and the A line.

The bad: Power-tripping station agents aside, it’s not an accessible station. The bus connection to the Q52 and Q53 are a short walk away, but still. And, while not a major issue with the station itself, the headways on the subway out here are BRUTAL. It can also get particularly crowded, especially with summer beachgoers on hot days (where the Rockaways can oftentimes be 15-20 degrees COOLER than Midtown!), so there’s that.

Nearby points of interest: Well, you have a couple of parks and the ocean! There’s also a number of restaurants and the Broad Channel Library as well. Really, most of the things of interest are either parks/beaches on the far ends of the neighborhood, or along Cross Bay Boulevard.

Transit connections:
8th Ave. (A Line)
Rockaway Shuttle
MTA bus (Q52 & Q53 on Cross Bay Boulevard)

Overall, it’s not a terrible station. Am I salty about being yelled at? Yeah, a little. I’m more surprised it happened here rather than on PATH. But, whatever. The area does give off some modest NIMBY vibes, but even then it’s not a bad station whatsoever.

Rating: 7/10

23rd St.-Flatiron District (Lines R, W)

Whelp, we’re back in NYC. And, today’s entry is a rather modest, if boring, station. Welcome to 23rd/Broadway, located in the Flatiron District (hence the title, to differentiate it from other 23rd St.’s).

23rd St., or rather this particular one, is located on Broadway at, well, 23rd Street, in Manhattan’s Flatiron District. It’s a local station served by the R and W lines, with the N serving it on weekends in lieu of the W. It’s pretty average, with countdown clocks lining the platform, BMT mosaics, and the usual with vending machines in the station mezzanine. However, there is no free crossover, and it’s not an accessible station (the nearest ones are Union and Herald Squares). There’s also hats depicted on the station walls, which are pretty cool. Overall, though, not a good station, but also nothing offensively bad.

We stan the venerable SMEEs (until their HVAC die, anyways)

idk why but there’s just something cool about this

The good: It exists! Furthermore, 23rd St.’s an important road, with a Select Bus connection. It also gets pretty modest to somewhat decent service as well. The art is pretty cool as well!

The bad: Mainly accessibility. If you need an accessible way to this area, just take the M23-SBS or another, non-SBS bus.

Nearby points of interest: To this station specifically, the Flatiron Building and Madison Square Park are the big ones.

Transit connections:
Broadway Lines (R, W)
MTA bus (M1, M2, M3, M23-SBS, M55, BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BM5, SIM3, SIM6, SIM6X, SIM10, SIM31, X27, X28)

Overall, it’s not a bad station by any means, and the artwork is actually quite cool! Just, if only it was accessible though…

Rating: 6.5/10

Angora (SEPTA)

Wait, wait, wait…SEPTA?!?!?!??!? Did we seriously just backwards long jump past the ENTIRITY OF NJT TERRITORY?! Nah, this ain’t Mario 64. And even then, I still have NJT in the (as of writing this, very VERY large) backlog. Without further ado, here’s the first SEPTA Regional Rail(TM), first SEPTA (systemwide), and first blog entry anywhere beyond New York or the far Northeastern US.

Angora Station is located on the outer fringes of southwestern Philadelphia, on SEPTA’s Media/Wawa commuter rail line, in the namesake neighborhood of Angora. It consists of rather little in the way of amenities (not even seating or a bus shelter?!), and even less in the way of accessibility. In fact, the only thing remotely ADA accessible about this (quite bluntly: shitty!) station is the bus connections, being the 46 between 63rd/Malvern and this station (where it turns!), and the 63 between Overbrook Station and Columbus Commons in South Philly. You might get a transit-accessible pile of rocks, if you’re lucky! As for inaccessible connections, you have the T2 trolley line on Baltimore Ave., of course. And, what amenities DOES this station have? …a Key Card machine. But, it’s not just any ordinary Key Card machine – because unlike, say, the ticketing machines on the LIRR, NJT, or Metro-North, these DON’T EVEN DISPENSE PAPER TICKETS! WAY TO GO, SEPTA!!! But, it’s also SEPTA. Of course they’ll do things in a rather weird and esoteric way. And, I think that’ll become abundantly clear in some coming entries within SEPTA territory… *wink wink, nudge nudge*

hmm i wonder who’s filming the Silverliner V…

And looking towards downtown- er, Center City Philadelphia.

An exit and the street – and lighting, I guess

The good: …it exists, I guess??? You might see a pile of rocks if you’re lucky!

The bad: Why? Just, why? There is no station house or even amenities. It’s like they forgot the station itself. It’s like it’s just a point on a map where Silverliners stop. What kind of illicit substances were they smoking??? Even the Newton trio is better, because even THOSE had amenities.

Nearby points of interest: A number of churches and mosques, a shopping plaza (w/ a Dunks!), and A LOT OF HOUSING.

Transit connections:
SEPTA Regional Rail (Media/Wawa)
SEPTA bus (46, 63 – both at Baltimore & 58th)
SEPTA Metro (T2 – at Baltimore & 58th)

Overall, just…..why??????? What were they smoking? This is easily among the most “what the hell?” stations I’ve ever used. Just use fucking 46/63 (or the T2, if able-bodied) instead, if possible.

Rating: 0.2/10

Stay tuned, as A LOT more SEPTA (& NYC, and even some NJT) content is coming up in the coming weeks and months!

Providence (Peter Pan)

hehehehehehe y’all thought I wasn’t going to cover Peter Pan? Well, here we go. To popular demand, here’s the Peter Pan terminal in Providence.

So, the terminal isn’t conducive to anything given this is privately-owned. The place was closed when I was here, but this was the only opportunity for me to review this. There’s a waiting room, bathrooms, a ticketing counter, and the usual stuff. There’s also several bus bays and a decent amount of parking. Overall, it’s okay.

Damn, not even past the last bus’s arrival?

The good: It exists, I guess. It’s Peter Pan’s main base of operation in RI.

The bad: It’s kinda isolated from the rest of RI’s transit network. The walk to the nearest bus stop (an R Line stop) is about 10 minutes – half a mile. It’s also not in the most inviting location, and feels kinda sketchy at night, to be quite honest.

Nearby points of interest: Providence. The R Line is right there.

Transit connections:
Peter Pan

Overall, I think I have seen better. The station is kinda sketchy-feeling at night, and while Peter Pan itself isn’t the worst, I’d rather take RIPTA and the Commuter Rail any day if I can help it.

Rating: 5/10

Worcester Union (MBTA/Amtrak/WRTA)

Oh, how far we’ve come…the final entry of the Commuter Rail saga (well, aside from the entries about the lines themselves – but I’ll worry about that post-South Coast Rail…, also aside from the six South Coast Rail entries that will be dropping over the next couple weeks). And, no better way to finish off than what is quite literally the final boss: one of the busiest Commuter Rail stations on the system, at the end of a line that connects the two largest cities in all of New England (yeah, sorry Providence, but you aren’t that far behind circa the 2020 census – only about 15k people difference!). This one, surprisingly, was VERY difficult as well, having taken two attempts. With that in mind, here we go. The end of the MBTA’s Worcester Line, a surprisingly not very busy Amtrak stop (out of 11, the 3rd least-used stop in the entire state as of Amtrak FY’23), Worcester’s Peter Pan and Greyhound stops, …and a bus stop for both the PVTA and MART??? Huh, odd. Needless to say, with all that in mind, here we go!

ATTEMPT #1, 2025-03-15: I woke up at the asscrack of dawn, hoping to utilize the 40 minute turnaround period to do this station review. Unfortunately, due to unexpected interlocking work in Westborough area, this didn’t pan out. We held at Southborough as the inbound train was wrong-railing through HALF OF THE LINE, which took a while. Then, we proceeded up once the train cleared, the engineer had to ask for verbal permission for a NORAC Rule 241 (to those not versed in railroading jargon, a Rule 241 is permission to pass an absolute stop). This……took a while, and when all was said and done, we finally got to Union Station. However, I only had 3 minutes to do much of anything. And, since the next train was in 2 hours…I was fucked. Why? Well, I had made plans to ride Brooke’s train and to spend the day with Nat as well, and having to arrive back into Boston at almost 1PM would have derailed this greatly. So, back to the drawing board I go, to attempt again with my entire morning cleared out, as my only other real options for handling this were to either throw away my errands for the 17th (not happening as laundry takes a while) or to wake up at the asscrack of dawn on the 22nd (this was the only other viable option). With that in mind, I’d have to trudge on for another week before I could attempt to tackle this beast again.

ATTEMPT #2, 2025-03-22

So, after my last attempt got botched horrifically due to UNEXPECTED TRACKWORK IN WESTBOROUGH AREA, I had to come back up. And, given the fact the opening of the South Coast extension was imminent, I figured today (2025-03-22) was a good day to dry run waking up at such an ungodly hour (2am!!!!!). With that in mind, I hopped on the first Commuter Rail train of the morning, changed at South Station (rather than Back Bay), and pressed on all the way to Worcester. This time, I not only carved out 2 extra hours in my schedule, but also took my sweet time with this one. It’s the last entry, for crying out loud! So, with a smooth arrival into Worcester Union Station, here goes nothing.

The platform was decent – the PA system is pretty beefy despite the fact that: 1. only commuter trains stop here, and 2. only one Amtrak train leaves here each day (the Lake Shore Limited to Albany & Chicago). Benches line the platform, as does even proper countdown clocks ala what you’d see at Back Bay???? DAMN. I went to check out the pedestrian bridge and it was actually decently filled – as there was a departure board up there. Well shit, that’s ACTUALLY pretty helpful! There’s also a provision for a second track (does not exist presently), and I think the plan is to build said second track so more than one train can serve the station at a time. This would be important for the proposed East-West Rail proposal that would connect Boston with Springfield, the Berkshires, and Albany. There’s even a decent amount of surface parking to go around – and you can also see both the Commuter Rail and CSX yards from here as well. Cool!

Commuter Rail yard front and center, CSX to the right!

I didn’t see any ticketing machines in the overpass

Surface parking – probably primarily intended for crew members

Looks a little sad under the Shrewsbury St. exit ramp

Now, if this was all said and done, I’d easily give this at least a 7 or an 8, by virtue of being a nice and modern, if single-tracked when it should be double-tracked, terminus station. But, there’s more. Union Station is well known for having a grandiose hall and waiting area, with a parking garage, intercity buses, and the WRTA’s main hub as well. The main hall has a couple of food tenants, restrooms, and can even be rented out for events. MART’s Clinton/Worcester shuttle is apparently prescribed to pick up at the front door of the event hall. Further in, you have a departure board INSIDE the station, a Worcester PD substation, a CHARLIECARD MACHINE(?!) – YES, YOU CAN ACTUALLY RELOAD YOUR CHARLIECARDS AND BUY COMMUTER RAIL TICKETS OUT HERE!, and even the main WRTA bus hub is out here. That isn’t too special to ring home about, as it’s got several sheltered berths and benches and the usual. Vs. something like BAT, the WRTA doesn’t have their shit together nor do any of their routes have live tracking with GTFS. At least with BAT, the schedule is padded to Hell and you have The Pulse. No such thing exists here. However, the WRTA DOES have an indoor waiting room. It’s passable! Oh, yeah, the PVTA’s B79 bus to ZooMass (UMASS Amherst) stops at the intersection of Harding and Franklin. Neat!

Nice it acknowledges both intercity buses and Amtrak too

BUS connection – but it doesn’t tell you the B79.

The shuttered Peter Pan ticketing office

Intercity buses! Amtrak’s Thruway uses this too!

Towards Springfield, Albany, and Chicago

This train sharted itself on my way back 🙁

The good: A lot! It’s got a gorgeous station house, ticketing machines (nonexistent otherwise!), decent connectivity with intercity and local buses, signage that acknowledges the existence of Amtrak (where’s that at Framingham?!), a modern platform, overpasses with departure boards, departure boards in the main hall, a waiting area for the WRTA that’s open to the public, and is pretty well-located, being in downtown Worcester.

The bad: Signage for the PVTA and MART would be nice! I don’t have anything bad to say otherwise.

Nearby points of interest: Well, given this is in downtown Worcester, a lot, actually! I mean, you have everywhere the WRTA can bring you, ranging from several Walmarts, to where Higgins Armory used to be (RIP), Quinsigamond CC, Clark University, the Blackstone Valley Shopping Center, even out to places like Shrewsbury, the Auburn Mall, Southbridge, and even freakin’ Brookfield. Unfortunately, I can’t comment much as I haven’t ridden the WRTA much. Oh yeah, you can also get to Amherst and Ware via the PVTA’s B79 bus here, and MART runs a commuter shuttle from here to Clinton at peak hours, and express to Leominster and Fitchburg offpeak. As for thing closer to walking distance, you have Polar Park (home to the WooSox), the DCU Center, Femme (lesbian bar – yes, Ben, I will visit at some point), the Miss Worcester and Boulevard Diners, on Southbridge and Shrewsbury Streets, and even SWEATY BETTY’S (kids not allowed).

Transit connections:
Amtrak (Lake Shore Limited)
Commuter Rail (Worcester)
WRTA (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 42, 825)
PVTA (B79)
MART (Clinton/Worcester Commuter)

Overall, I genuinely think this is deserving of the coveted 10/10 rating. I mean, I got nothing against it whatsoever, I can’t even think of anything bad to say about it, and it’s probably the single best station on the MBTA network.

And, with that, that concludes “Chelsea Visits Every MBTA Rail Station”, I guess. I mean, I have the CapeFLYER, a few Amtrak stops, and a CTrail station in the Commonwealth. I still have the entirity of Metro-North and the LIRR, NJT, the MTA subway, PATH, SEPTA, Maryland MTA & MARC, and even WMATA and VRE. As for the future of this blog, I’ll probably mainly slowly hack away at buses, the likes of other Amtrak and commuter train stations, and possibly even do a cross-country adventure or two. I mean, as of writing this, the opening of South Coast Rail is imminent so that still remains otherwise, for the MBTA. And, I’d also like to give a shoutout to everyone that’s come along, including people that went through the trouble of going through these stations with me. Thank you all for joining along for the ride, and stay tuned because….

NEW BEDFORD IS NEXT.

Rating: 10/10

I get the feeling that all the new development is because of the WooSox…

Something about this feels very imposing…

HERE COMES A GEVO (i think it’s a GEVO?)

Natick Center (MBTA)

Natick Center is currently undergoing reconstruction, so this really is only a station review of the temporary low-level platform. As such, I will almost certainly have to revisit this station once the much-delayed construction is finished. With that in mind, here’s Natick Center!

Located in the MetroWest region, Natick Center is, as the name suggests, located in downtown Natick. The station presently consists of two low-level platforms, stairs AND a ramp down, a bench, a wastebasket, lighting, and a wholeass construction site. There’s also a bus connection on Main Street to various MWRTA bus routes. Land use around the station, being in downtown Natick, is pretty good! Oh yeah, there’s even a D I N E R (I think featured in the Miles in Transit Boston-area Diner Video?) in walking distance, which is sick. I actually should come visit it and get food some time. Moving right along, that’s unfortunately about it for the area. There isn’t even any info displays that tell you if a train is boarding on the other track, which may or may not have led to everyone making a mad dash to the #1 track…

Bye!!! (as she pollutes the entire area)

And the stairs up. They’re kinda rusting a little…

This website does not support Donald Trump. Fuck Trump and Fuck Musk.

The good: It’s located in downtown Natick, which is always nice! Furthermore, it’s becoming accessible! And the MWRTA serves it!

The bad: The temporary station is barren! The rebuild’s been delayed many a times, AND there’s not even passenger info displays! This may have led to a mad dash from one platform to the other…yeah……

Nearby points of interest: Downtown Natick and the D I N E R!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Worcester)
MWRTA (10, 11, Natick Commuter Shuttle, MathWorks Shuttle)

Overall, I’ll almost certainly have to revisit after it’s finished being rebuilt, but for now, it’s………bad. 🙁

Rating: 2/10

Southborough (MBTA)

Southborough, despite the name, is barely in Southborough itself, If anything, much like Grafton being on the Shrewsbury line, Southborough is on the Hopkinton town line. Nevertheless, here’s Southborough Station.

Southborough is your standard Worcester Line infill station built in the early ’00s. There actually used to be a station within a mile of here to serve the Southville area of Southborough, however these days it’s somebody’s house, so obviously they couldn’t do that. However, the current Cordaville station site isn’t that bad. Unlike Westborough, the tracks don’t run through downtown, so I can’t use that against this. There’s a decently-sized parking lot, a mini-high, nonfunctioning yellow dot matrix signage (oops!), the usual amenities on the mini-high, and rather an overpass, there’s an underpass to change sides at the intersection of River St. and Southville Rd. As for land use, it’s rather suburban in nature, though once you cross into Hopkinton (which is VERY EASY on foot), you’re basically in a state park. Neat! As for buses, apparently the MWRTA stops here at peak hours on the way between Boston Scientific and the Blandin ITC. However, I didn’t see any traces of a bus stop anywhere. Overall, though, not bad! Funnily enough, this is, by way of microtransit, also the transfer point between the WRTA and MWRTA.

The good: There’s a mini-high! There’s some stuff around here (unlike Westborough!). Furthermore, there’s parking for those that need it. I was here midday on a Monday and it look like it was being decently used. It’s also got the usual you’d expect from a Commuter Rail station.

The bad: It’s a mini-high. Bleh. Also, it still feels desolate. And no way to change sides closer to the mini-high???

Nearby points of interest: Pizzaville restaurant is nearby, as is the Hopkinton State Park. Not a lot, otherwise.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Worcester)
MWRTA (15)
WRTA (Via WRTA)

Overall, not a bad station!

Rating: 7/10

Montello (MBTA)

There are a couple of spots where the MBTA and BAT interchange. The first, surprisingly, is Ashmont on the Red Line. However, I covered Ashmont a while ago. Instead, we’ll be covering the second place where one can interchange between the T and BAT. Meet: Montello

Montello is a station on the Fall River/New Bedford Line, and is one of a handful of double-tracked double-platformed stations on it. With two side platforms, this part of the line is designed for trains to pass, and oftentimes they meet here. The platforms are pretty standard with shelters, yellow signage, benches, and whatnot. Changing sides is done via a grade crossing. BAT buses pick up on Spark Street (written as SPARK Street on Google Maps?), while the MBTA’s route 230 to Quincy stops in the parking lot itself. As for the area, there’s not too much to remark. One side is relatively suburban, while the other is considerably more industrial. It’s also accessible, along with the rest of the line. Neat!

I do believe this is where the MBTA’s route 230 boards

Platform shot looking towards Fall River, New Bedford, and Hyannis

The good: It’s high-level! There’s buses and parking! Shelter!

The bad: Eh, the land use could be a little better, but the fact one side is closest to relatively dense housing isn’t bad! Also, can the 230 get a proper shelter please?

Nearby points of interest: Not much it seems. There’s a Stop & Shop nearby, I guess.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fall River, New Bedford)
MBTA bus (230)
BAT (10/11)

Overall, it’s passable. Not too bad, nothing to remark.

Rating: 7/10

Brockton & BAT Center (MBTA/BAT)

nanananananananana BATMAN!!!!!!!!! Oh, this is the BAT Center, not the BAT Cave? Booooo…….. Well, at least we’re in downtown Brockton now. Oh yeah, there’s a Commuter Rail station here too.

The BAT Center is BAT’s main bus terminal, where all their routes (sans the BSU campus shuttles and the Rockland Flex) all converge. While I was here on a Saturday, the cafe tenant that was here was closed, however in terms of other things, you have restrooms, BAT customer service, a very pixelated system map. There’s also a CharlieCard machine that was barricaded (BAT was fare-free). Yea, that’s right! BAT takes the trusty CharlieCard!!! The building is pretty nice, too, all things considered. There’s a pick up/drop off area on the road between the BAT Center and the Commuter Rail platform. So, walking to the Commuter Rail platform, it’s standard. The fact it’s behind the Brockton PD headquarters is a little sus, but whatever. It’s an island platform, and this section of the line is designed for trains to pass each other. As such, track 1 is outbound and track 2 is inbound. Yellow matrix signage, shelters, benches, blah blah blah. There’s a grade crossing here, though! And it’s in downtown Brockton, which is nice too. There’s some parking, not too much (apparently there’s a garage nearby?), and then, something amazing happened at the top of the hour as my friend and I were leaving.

At the top of the hour and half past, EVERY BAT route leaves the terminal. This, is the pulse. And, by god, is it a glorious thing to witness. All the buses leaving at the same time in a coordinated manner. BAT might be a smaller system, but for a first impression, they REALLY seem to have their shit together. Overall though, not bad!

Towards Fall River, New Bedford, and Hyannis!

The good: Location! It’s in downtown Brockton! It’s also intermodal with the BAT terminal and the Commuter Rail station pretty much being in the same spot. Furthermore, the BAT Center has some decent amenities. The Commuter Rail platform is standard, though.

The bad: Eh, not a lot here. I genuinely don’t have anything to say that’s bad.

Nearby points of interest: Downtown Brockton!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fall River, New Bedford)
BAT (1, 2, 3, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10/11, 12, 14)

Overall, it’s probably……the only perfect Old Colony station?! Yeah, looks like we have gold in an unlikely place!

Rating: 10/10