Alrighty, now since I’ve done both termini of the Blue Line, how about an entry on the line itself?
The East Boston Tunnel was initially built as a light rail line, initially running from Maverick Square to Court St., with a stop at State Street and Atlantic Avenue (now Aquarium). Constructing this ended up taking quite a while, a lot of money, and from what I can find, killed four. Eventually, it’d be extended to Bowdoin Square, the present western terminus, and converted to standard subway instead of light rail. Along with this came an intermediate stop at Scollay Square, now named Government Center. Needless to say, this required a lot of manpower. Then, upon the dawn of the 1950s, when most US cities were essentially throwing their rapid transit systems into the toilet with the advent of the automobile, came a new extension to the Blue Line. This brought it out to the present-day eastern terminus at Wonderland in Revere, with intermediate stops at Revere Beach, Beachmont, Suffolk Downs, Orient Heights, Wood Island, and most notably Airport. Nowadays, the line has two proposals for extensions, being a western extension to the Red Line at Charles/MGH, and an eastern extension to the Lynn Commuter Rail station.
Anyways, enough of the historical mumbo jumbo.
So, the ride begins at Bowdoin, which is not accessible. Accessibility can be found at nearby Government Center and State Street, both of which are very close by. Oh yeah, the train screeches a bit like the Green Line in Boylston going into Government Center. Oh, NOW we’re going fast. Soon enough, we’re flooring it through the tunnel into Aquarium, and then the speed REALLY picks up going under the harbor into Maverick.
After leaving Maverick, we emerge on the surface and holy crap, it’s scenic. One can see the airport, some green spaces nearby, and the ocean between the stations. We arrive at Airport and transition to overhead wires, which are used to prevent any issues during the winter. Moving on, it’s very scenic and we’re going really fast. Why, again, can’t the Orange or Red Lines be like this? We enter the rest of the surface stations at Wood Island, Orient Heights (where the Blue Line yard can be found!), Suffolk Downs (the least-used station with fare control!), Beachmont, Revere Beach, and lastly Wonderland. Wow, that was fast.
The good: Well, it’s fast! And, it sure as hell has no slow zones unlike the Orange and Red Lines! It’s also probably the most scenic out of the rapid transit lines, running along the ocean and the beaches. The rolling stock is pretty nice too, consisting of 2007 Siemens #5s.
The bad: The Charles and Lynn extensions would be kinda nice.
Nearby points of interest: There’s downtown Boston, along with the airport! You also have Maverick Square, and pretty much all of eastern Revere.
Overall, I’d say the Blue Line is the best of the rapid transit lines. It’s fast, unlike the other subway lines. It doesn’t have to contend with grade crossings, unlike the Green and Mattapan lines. And, it doesn’t run in mixed traffic, unlike the Green and Silver Lines. Now, if only it ran to Charles and Lynn, I’d say it’s a home run.
Rating: 9.5/10
I LOVE THE MBTA!!!
cool.