Category: Massachusetts

Alrighty, for this we’re heading out to the far end of the Worcester Line, almost as far out as the heart of the Commonwealth. However, we’re stopping short of Worcester because I’m holding off for construction to finish out there. So, as a holdover, here’s Grafton.

Unlike half of the Worcester Line, Grafton is located out in the middle of nowhere. I’m not even making this up. There’s genuinely nothing in the station’s walkshed. To demonstrate this, here’s a screenshot of what 15 minutes of walking can get you.

The only notable things in there are just an office park and Tufts University’s veterinarian school. Yeah……this station is a prime example of “relatively poor land use” though I do give it credit for being nice and quiet. Anyways, the station itself. It isn’t that noteworthy. You have a footbridge to the inbound platform, a long ramp with benches (what is this, rural Uphams Corner?), and a copious amount of parking. Oh yeah, apparently the WRTA stops here, too. Neat! As a random aside, this general region of Massachusetts also happens to be the birthplace of the EDI (created by an unhinged transit nerd named Ben), which is a measure of how not-straight a land-based transit route is (land-based being anything that isn’t a ferry, car, or airplane). Random fun fact, the B shuttle that runs here has an EDI of 1.32. Neat! Right, station itself. It really isn’t much, being a Worcester Line park and ride. You’ve also got mini-highs (could/should be full-length highs!). Yeah, I got nothing noteworthy to add.

The good: The hill’s nice, and it’s pretty quiet being in the middle of nowhere! There’s also a decent amount of parking!

The bad: The WRTA isn’t signed here, and it’s in the middle of nowhere…..yeah, sorry. 🙁

Nearby points of interest: Just Tufts’ veterinarian school and an office park. There really isn’t anything here.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Worcester)
WRTA (B Shuttle)

Overall, it’s a nice station, it’s unique among a sea of parking lots (somehow), but there just ain’t a lot around the area. Sorry!

Rating: 6.5/10

My friend Metropolis has been quoted with saying “they put a Commuter Rail station in someone’s backyard” and I followed up with “not once, but twice”. This was in regards to Endicott and Islington. However, what if I told you they did this to an apartment complex as well? Meet: Windsor Gardens.

Windsor Gardens is an apartment complex located in Norwood, Mass., and has no transit connection aside from the Franklin/Foxboro Line. It is also not very accessible by ADA standards either, which is a big “yikes”. However, as for what the station DOES offer? Well, the station is a big selling point for the apartments here (which are by no means affordable, they start at $2000 a month for a 1 bed! But, there’s amenities included like clubhouses, playgrounds, and the Commuter Rail.), for one. For two, you have a nice creek running through the area. And three, you have a nice little sheltered waiting area on the end of the platform towards Boston. Neat! Overall, it’s actually kinda nice. However…..there is a second illegal entrance people use, which may have been a source of a trespasser strike the day before I came out here… yeah….. if that entrance was legitimate, it’d make a walk to the 34E a lot faster.

The good: It’s waist-deep in an apartment complex, and as such is a major selling point! It’s also a flag stop for all trains, being one of two stations to hold that title.

The bad: It’s inaccessible, single-tracked, the secret path that allegedly exists is a safety hazard (someone DIED, allegedly, the day before I came out here), and I can’t help but feel 2 shelters might not be enough. Oh well!

Nearby points of interest: The Commons at Windsor Gardens!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Franklin, Foxboro)

Overall, it’s an adorable little station, but I can’t really give it a high score given it’s major flaws. Yeah, sorry! D:

Rating: 4/10

The 31 is a very short route. In fact, I’d go as far as to label it as a “short and sweet” type. However, during the Great Race to Mattapan, Alex, Nick, and I managed to ride this route in its entirity, leading to a route review becoming possible. So, what’s along the route? Let’s look.

The 31 originates at Forest Hills, and after banging a u-ey out of the lower busway onto Hyde Park Avenue, turns onto Morton Street immediately, passing by some apartments and Shattuck Hospital. Going down this section of Morton Street, you have the Forest Hills Cemetery on one side and Franklin Park on the other, and soon enough we were in Mattapan. We took a right down Blue Hill Ave., progressed down the street into Mattapan Square, passing the Fairmount Line, banging another u-ey after ever so slightly entering Milton, and entering Mattapan’s outer busway. All in all, about 20-30 minutes to cover three miles and change. Not bad, given ridership was mainly “everyone got on at Forest Hills, everyone got off along Blue Hill Ave.”

The good: It’s a short and sweet, and direct, connection between the Orange and Mattapan Lines. It’s also very frequent, being every 15 minutes (or better) on weekdays, and every 18-20 minutes on Saturdays, and 20-25 minutes on Sundays. Weekend headways aren’t the best, but it’s pretty good still.

The bad: It can feel like a drag sometimes with local Boston traffic. Oh well! It’s still faster than going up the Orange Line and doubling back on the Red Line! Yeah, I’m grasping for straws on this one. It really oughta be a key route though…

Nearby points of interest: Forest Hills, Mattapan Square, and Franklin Park are the big ones that come to mind. Shattuck Hospital, too.

Overall, for what it is, it does the job very well. I can’t think of anything negative about it, however it really ought to be a key bus route.

Rating: 10/10

Oh, goody! We get to check out the first of several express buses on the MBTA network! Well, let’s look at them all and what’s in store…Lynn, Oaklandvale, Brighton, Waltham, Watertown, Salem, and …North Burlington??? Huh, that’s not a lot. Well, I’ll be sure to cover all of them eventually. In the interim, however, here’s Lynn’s express bus. Meet: the 426- WAIT IT COSTS $4.25?! WHAT THE FUCK, THAT’S EVEN MORE THAN A SUBWAY FARE!!!!! HOLY FUCK! Oh dear…

So, all seven express bus routes originate at various points in downtown Boston (the 354 originates at Government Center, the 426, 428, and 450 originate at Haymarket, and the 501, 504, and 505 originate at Downtown Crossing) and take various highways out to the suburbs. In the case of the 426 and 428, they run locally out to Charlestown ever so slightly before getting on US-1 and the Tobin Bridge. This is where the unholy $4.25 fare comes in. That surcharge – THAT DAMN SURCHARGE IS TO COVER THE TOLL ON THE TOBIN BRIDGE! Anyways, we expressed down US-1 for quite a bit and got off the Squire Road exit. From here, it was pretty much just a normal local bus. Weekend runs originate at Wonderland instead and carry a normal $1.70 bus fare. Moving on, the route runs through Saugus and through Cliftondale Square, turning down Lincoln Avenue and crossing the Saugus River into Lynn. Of course, it was stop and go traffic (it’s Lynn), and it took a bit from here. However, eventually, after crawling the streets of Lynn, we made it to the old Commuter Rail station’s busway, making it to the end of the route.

The good: It gives people in Lynn and Saugus an alternative to the Blue Line and Commuter Rail into Boston! Also, it’s a local bus for these areas! And, on top of that, ridership is decent both at Haymarket and beyond US-1.

The bad: THAT. $4.25. FARE. OH HELL NAW!

Nearby points of interest: Didn’t see much along the route, sadly…

Overall, the route’s important and it’s very important indeed, both as a downtown direct and a suburban local route. However, that fare though……ugh.

Rating: 6/10. Would’ve been a 7 if the fare was $2.40 or less.

This is quite possibly the furthest out an MBTA bus goes from any singular subway terminal. This route runs through Forest Hills to Walpole Center (near the CR station), via Roslindale, Dedham, Islington (Westwood), and Norwood, and it either serves directly or very closely 5 different Commuter Rail stations. So, let’s look at this route, shall we?

The 34E begins at Forest Hills Station in JP, and starts running down Washington Street. This is gonna be the road we’re on ALL THE WAY TO WALPOLE. Yes. We do NOT deviate from this road in the slightest! Rozzie, of course, is primarily residential and is more akin to a small city in of itself, while progressing on beyond, the sprawl begins to slowly become more evident. Of course, we also entered Dedham, passing both a park and the Dedham Mall in the process. No deviation into either, however. We had to interface with a weirdly-configured roundabout with the Providence Highway, and then we continued through the town center and in the backside of a strip mall. We’d then cross I-95 into Westwood, serving the Islington neighborhood (& the CR station, indirectly), and make a slight maneuver to go underneath the Franklin Line, only to continue into going underneath again. At this point, we were in Norwood, passing through the town center and by Norwood Depot. It actually looked like there were some places of interest, I need to come back here some time. We’d also pass by Norwood Hospital & Norwood Central, entering Walpole soon enough. Walpole was much of the same, just without hospitals. We sorta serve a school, though! Sunday runs terminate at a loop in East Walpole, while weekday/Saturday runs continue on up East St. and terminate at Walpole Center.

The good: It’s a suburban route serving similar areas to the Franklin Line! There’s otherwise nothing out here for public transit, at that, so yeah. It also serves many town centers!

The bad: It short turns on Sundays. I guess, it’s okay, but c’mon… Also, why not run all the way to Walpole’s CR station???

Nearby points of interest: Norwood’s town center and Rozzie look interesting…

Overall, it’s alright. There’s nothing else out here (the Dedham Local Bus doesn’t exist anymore, either, to my awareness), so it’s pretty important. However, I do feel it’d be best supplemented with additional buses out here.

Rating: 6.5/10

Alrighty. So, I mentioned Islington was pretty deep into suburbia. Well, meet its twin, Endicott. Endicott is waist-deep into suburbia. I’m talking, so deep that you’ll be walking for at least 30-40 minutes to reach any transit connection that isn’t the Franklin Line. With that in mind, here we go.

Endicott, like Islington, is deep into suburbia. However, buses don’t even run out here. To describe how far into suburbia it is, it’s so deep I had to walk 40 minutes for a bus connection – at Readville. Yeah. But, the station is essentially a copy-paste of Islington. You have bicycle infrastructure (sorta), shelters, benches, wastebaskets, the classic red dot matrix signage, a grade crossing to change sides, and a small amount of parking. There’s more parking lining Grant Avenue, however I didn’t check it out, as I wanted to get to Readville to meet up with Brooke. But, it exists. There used to be a path to the inbound platform, however that’s now an entire street. Boooooooo… Parking is also permit-only, Dedham residents only. So, bugger off to Dedham Corporate Center! Overall, I kinda like the station, and the area is a vibe in general. Hell, it’s probably a treat to railfan during the autumn months as well.

The good: It’s in a suburban neighborhood and isn’t car-oriented! It’s also rather peaceful like Islington and has the amenities one might need – including shelter.

The bad: Eh, it’s inaccessible. There’s also little in the way of transit out here. It’s also, if memory serves, the least-used station on the Franklin Line, for what it’s worth, so maybe it’s also better off a flag stop. But, like, if you’re driving – just use Readville or Dedham Corporate Center! Hell, if you’re not doing anything in the immediate area, you may as well use either anyways as there’s no T buses out here! Not even the Dedham Local Bus runs here!

Nearby points of interest: Not a lot, and even less than Islington’s list of interesting places (somehow)

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Franklin, Foxboro)

Overall, good god, just why???? This station’s literally balls-deep in suburbia with no connections. It literally only exists to serve the walkshed and little else, and it doesn’t even do that well. Even West Gloucester fills this better! Sorry, Endicott!

Rating: 4.5/10

So, after doing the Norwood duo, I took the 34E back, however there were two pieces of unfinished business. The first, was a block and a half away from the 34E in Islington. In fact, it was Islington’s Commuter Rail station. Let’s look at this station located in suburbia, shall we? To describe from what a reader said to me, “they built a station in someone’s backyard”, to which I say there’s two stations that fit the bill here. The other station will be the next entry on this blog. (wink wink nudge nudge)

So, who here remembers the 10ft6 bridge at East St. in Westwood? Anybody? If not, here’s a video to remind y’all of what it was. It’s since been raised to 13ft3 (or rather, more likely, the road was lowered to make that the clearance) and now trucks aren’t careening into it and exploding spectacularly like in years prior. See, look!

The walk was actually rather pleasant. Crossing East Street into Carroll Street, the entrance to the inbound platform seems innocent enough – enough so to where as Miles put it in his entry on this station, one could easily mistake it for someone’s driveway! It’s such a cute little station! I mean, it’s got a small amount of parking, a 135ft low level platform on each side, crossovers, some benches, shelters, and if memory serves me right even a bicycle rack! There’s also a red dot matrix sign. Bleugh. But, overall, a decent (if inaccessible) station. It’s so cute, too!!! And, it’s in walking distance of the 34E!!!

The good: It’s such a cute little station! Furthermore, Islington is kinda town center-y, so it’s in a relatively dense (vs. the rest of the town, which doesn’t say much as it’s still single-family housing) area. It’s also relatively walkable too, although it’s a shame US-1 is close by. Furthermore, the 34E is close by, too!

The bad: It’s all single-family housing!!! Yikes. It’s also inaccessible, which stinks. Also, it’s so damn close to Dedham Corporate Center (which is also cheaper!) that, odds are, if you’re driving, it’s better to drive there and park.

Nearby points of interest: Not a lot… A couple of businesses exist on Washington Street, but nothing stood out.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Franklin, Foxboro)
MBTA bus (34E on Washington St.)

Overall, it’s a cute little station. I like it. Sometimes, a nice small suburban station without a major parking sink is nice to have, even. But, inaccessibility does take away from it, as does proximity to Dedham Corp. Eww.

Rating: 5.5/10

And now we’re at the OTHER Norwood station! Norwood Depot doesn’t have a depot, but it is in Norwood Center. Did someone swap the name plates for these?! Well, whatever.

The station has the mini-highs at the grade crossing, which is convenient, AND they have stuff on them. Benches, no less! Furthermore, they line the platform, which extends into the woods a bit. There’s also some parking, and a red dot matrix sign as well. Ugh. Well, whatever. You also have some suburban TOD in the form of apartment complexes, a kiss & ride, and even some bicycle racks. Yeah, this is actually pretty decent! Nice! Just no station building.

The good: It’s in the town center, has some parking, stuff on the mini-high, and some TOD around it!

The bad: I guess the worst thing this station has going for it is being too damn close to Norwood Central. I legitimately can’t think of much. Raise the platforms a bit?

Nearby points of interest: Norwood Center!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Franklin, Foxboro)
MBTA bus (34E, on Washington St.)

Overall, I like this station. There’s not much wrong with it, however the best change would be a full length high platform and some kind of up & over/down & under to change sides.

Rating: 7/10