Welcome to Central Square! Wait, this isn’t the same as “Cambridge Center”, which is in Kendall Square? Goddammit. I feel bamboozled. Bah, whatever, let’s look at Central Square!
The platforms at Central are pretty normal, nothing special unlike at Kendall. You have benches, a couple of mezzanine areas, and one side (at least) has restrooms as well! Unfortunately, though, said restroom was locked. That was sad, but probably for the better as odds are it’s a complete shitshow (figuratively). The mezzanines are also small, but correspond to the three entrances on each side. One of them are stairs, like your stereotypical NYC subway entrances, with the other two being an escalator and an elevator. This setup also means there’s no free crossovers. And, with Kendall also lacking crossovers, that means if you get on the inbound side in error, you have to ride all the way to Charles/MGH to change sides for free. Yikes! Fortunately, if you’re on the outbound side, Harvard has free crossovers, so it’s no issue. As for Central Square itself, it seems like an interesting place, with an art supply store being nearby along with City Hall.
The good: It’s more colorful than usual! Although, I did find it weird how one end was essentially blue – on a Red Line station. It’s also pretty close to City Hall and is also one of the most-used stations on the Red Line!
The bad: Eh, it feels dated and there’s no crossovers. Furthermore, this is amplified by Kendall ALSO not having free crossovers, so fuck you, return to Charles! Also, there’s no busway but whatever.
Nearby points of interest: There’s a few shops and businesses lining Massachusetts Avenue! Among a few being art supply stores! Also, City Hall is nearby!
Transit connections:
Red Line (Ashmont, Braintree)
MBTA bus (1, 47, 64, 70, 83, 91)
Overall, yeah, this ain’t the best one, and it’s probably the worst station on the northern Red Line. Sorry, but also not sorry!
Rating: 4/10
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