Ah, the Green Line. Not a personal favorite of mine, but it’s better than nothing. And hey, this one’s right in the heart of Back Bay, so there’s that!
The headhouses are nice enough, being glass with elevators for accessibility. Two of them are on Dartmouth St., with the third being near the bus shelter on Boylston Street. On the inside, while the platforms are staggered, there’s nothing to ring home about. However, being in Back Bay, this station is among the busier Green Line stations. Of course, you have elevators going to fare control. The platforms are just white walls, but it’s not to the same degree of dinginess as Bowdoin. Now, the station would be a 7, if it weren’t for one major flaw. There’s no free crossovers! What does that mean, you might ask? Well, imagine this. You aren’t paying attention and you need to change sides. Most stations would let you do this within fare control (e.g. Quincy Center with its island platform, and Revere Beach with the footbridge being within fare control, for example). And apparently, it’s gotten bad enough to where they posted instructions on how to do free crossovers at the platform!!!!! Yikes!
The good: It’s got plenty of bus connections, and the headhouses look nice! Copley Square also looks like a nice place in general. Kinda upscale, even.
The bad: No free crossovers. Yeah, that’s a major one. Also, the platforms are “eh”, doesn’t exactly fit the nice-ness of the area. But, whatever. Also, it can be a bit tricky to find where some of the buses stop (e.g. outbound 39s), as I didn’t see any bus stops or shelters that would reasonably correspond to them.
Nearby points of interest: Copley Square, Copley Place, and the Prudential Center are nearby! There’s also the John Hancock Building, and the Boston Public Library!
Transit connections:
Green Line (B, C, D, E)
MBTA bus (9, 10, 39, 55, 57, 502, 503)
Back Bay Station (via a short walk)
Overall, this station at least has a leg up vs. Bowdoin and (I presume) Boylston due to being accessible. However, the major killer is the lack of free crossovers. But, it does its job well for a major Green Line station in the heart of the city.
Rating: 6/10
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