Oh, cool, we’re back out on the Franklin Line! And, we’re at the namesake station of the line, Franklin! Let’s look at it, shall we?
The station is in downtown Franklin, a stone’s throw from Dean College, and because of that the station can very much hold its own in regard to ridership without relying on people driving in from the outer fringes of the Commuter Rail (in the case of the Franklin Line, this happens to be places like Bellingham, Milford, Blackstone, Millville, Mendon, Hopedale, and even Woonsocket and North Smithfield in Rhode Island), which is very much a good thing here because the parking lot is TINY. While the platform is relatively barren and the only shelter being the station building, and it presently is inaccessible, wouldn’t you know it, they’re actually BUILDING A MINI-HIGH?! Unfortunately, though, the way it’s being done precludes any extension of the double tracking in Norfolk towards Forge Park… Yeah, that sucks. But, hey, at least they’re actually making this station accessible! YAY (although ideally they’d have rebuilt the station to have a full-length high level platform). Oh yeah, as a cool factor, the Franklin layover yard is before this station.
GO VOTE, DAMMIT!
The good: It’s in downtown Franklin! It’s also okay with a modest amount of parking, for what it’s worth. But if you’re using this place, odds are you’re walking. It does have some charm going for it, but that’s also the area at-large.
The bad: It’s inaccessibility is a big one. Also, no shelter aside from the building is bad, however, I hope both will change with the mini-high being built.
Nearby points of interest: Downtown Franklin and Dean College, as signage suggests, are big!
Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Franklin)
GATRA (GATRA GO)
Overall, it’s a decent station for one that’s inaccessible. And, this puts me in a tough position where I feel like it’d get a high score if it was accessible, but it just isn’t. Goddammit…
Rating: 6.5/10
