Ashland, when coming from Boston, is the first of four infill stations built in the early 21st century on the way to Worcester. It also seen a massive rebuild as of late. So, let’s look at it, shall we?
The station is your standard Worcester Line infill, bearing many a similarity to Westborough. It’s the closest station to the town’s downtown (Grafton is in no man’s land, Westborough is far from downtown, and Southborough is also pretty far), there’s a MWRTA bus connection, and an ample amount of parking. You also have a standard mini-high platform and a metal overpass. Woah. Downtown is a 1 mile walk away, neat! Benches are also found on the platform, and on the overpass as well. Yeah, I don’t have much specifically to say about this station other than that its mere location makes it the best of the bunch.
The good: It’s close to the town center, only a mile away (roughly)! Furthermore, it’s the most recently rebuilt out of all the stations as of writing this, so it has modern amenities like a departure board and whatnot.
The bad: The bus connection isn’t exactly frequent, being approximately every hour and a half. Furthermore, the station is only a mini-high. And, why isn’t this in the town center??? Granted, it’s only a mile out so it’s a lot better than certain other offenders, but it’s still annoying.
Nearby points of interest: The town center is close by, be it a 3 minute MWRTA ride or a 20 minute walk! There’s also a nearby apartment complex.
Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Worcester)
MWRTA (5)
Overall, for the infills between Framingham and Worcester, this is probably the best one with location and transit connections. So, as such, this gets a higher score.
Rating: 8/10
