Author: chelsea

Okay! This one’s a bit delayed because of a lack of willpower, but I finally found the willpower to do this one! Meet: the 57. Or, the bus that’s seemingly perpetually crowded and a replacement to the B branch.

So, the route begins at Watertown Yard, but I boarded at the Newton Supercollider. It’s not a lot that I’m missing here. Anyways, I digress. From where I boarded, the route goes through the Supercollider into Brighton, through Newton Corner. It’s largely very suburban as it does this, but as it goes further down, it slowly begins getting progressively more urban, and the next neighborhoods here are Brighton and Oak Square (with its connection to the 64 to Kendall/MIT!). Of course, we pass by a number of houses and businesses, things progressively get denser, and we even pass a couple of churches. Cambridge St. becomes Brighton Avenue, and it gets pretty dense as we enter Allston and Packards Corner, where we meet the B branch. Oh, look, Packards Corner Station and the B branch!

So, we keep going down the B branch’s routing, crossing over the Pike, passing by Amory and Babcock Streets, numerous shops including Raising Canes and Landry’s (if you’re looking for cycling stuff, I cannot recommend them enough!), and even Boston University! Go Terriers! Soon enough, however, we pass Blandford Street and arrive in Kenmore. We made it to the end of the 57.

The good: It serves important (if quiet at face value!) communities in Watertown and Allston, and BU! It’s also one of the MBTA’s busiest bus corridors (this also used to be a Green Line branch). Furthermore, it’s very frequent with 12-15 minute headways for much of the day, every day. Peak service also has Oak Square short-turns as the 57A (though at the time of riding, this was not yet in service). Given all this, it’s one of the MBTA’s most important corridors.

The bad: It’s pretty prone to bunching. Capacity can also be an issue, and truthfully, this is one bus route that could benefit from having a few bendy boys running on it. Another alternative to fixing capacity issues could be to revive the A branch to Watertown, but that has its own set of issues. Some crazy souls might even suggest trolleybus-ifying the route, but…eh………no. But, my biggest gripe mostly comes down to capacity issues. 40 foot buses are NOT enough for this route, especially when school is in session at BU. And given it makes little sense for people to get off and transfer to the Green Line at Babcock St. or Packards Corner (unless they’re heading towards Boston College), it really is a problem. Please, get some bendy boys on this route!

Nearby points of interest: Packards Corner looks cool! BU is also right on the route. Brighton and Newton Corner are a little more suburban, but Oak Square has a number of shopping destinations too. There’s also St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, as well!

Overall, it’s an important route for the MBTA and local communities, and is one that desperately needs better capacity and throughput. But, all things considered, not a bad route.

Rating: 8/10

Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy Kwanzaa (if you celebrate – I do not know anyone that celebrates it), and happy holidays overall! Hopefully you (the reader) are enjoying your Wednesday. Today’s entry, is a special gift. Welcome to Ayer!

Ayer, in particular, has a reputation among Boston-area railfans – and, in a way, is a rite of passage. It’s a major freight rail hub, and is the most likely place to see freight trains in MBTA territory. That is not to say you can’t see them elsewhere – you absolutely can! I’ve personally seen CSX running on the Northeast Corridor, the outer Haverhill Line, and the Franklin Line. I digress though. The station itself is pretty modest, if not ADA accessible – as there are two low level platforms, a grade crossing between them, a red dot matrix sign on the inbound platform, seating on both sides, a nice-ish shelter, a bus shelter (both on the inbound side, naturally), and even a modest amount of parking. The station is also pretty much in Ayer’s town center, which is nice. There’s also a parking garage operated and managed by MART a little ways away. As for bus connections, however, there really aren’t any. Wait, what’s that? A horse racing down the track? What?! HOLY FUCKING SHIT, A NORFOLK SOUTHERN LOCOMOTIVE TRIO COUPLING TO A CRAPTON OF AUTORACKS?! Of course, I wasn’t the only one here, as a number of railfans had the same idea on the day I was out here. But, that wasn’t even the only catch! Later, I’d also see a CSX train taking the wye to head south towards Devens and Harvard. Unfortunately, it ended up becoming disabled, and I guess it broke the signaling system and switches (forcing the Keolis conductor on my train to Boston to hand-throw it), but hey, it was still cool to see!

The good: It’s located in downtown Ayer! The walkshed is actually pretty good, and at face value, Ayer is the kind of place where you could easily take the train out, get lunch, do a little bit of shopping, and take the train back. There’s also plenty of parking for park & ride users, as well – even if it’s not a lot (given Littleton is better-suited for this, being at the junction of MA-2 and I-495). It’s also a freakin’ cool place to railfan freight trains too, for what it’s worth.

The bad: Really, the worst, is that it’s inaccessible, and freight trains could easily block the crossing. I genuinely don’t have anything else bad to say about it, surprisingly. Actually, I do have ONE thing to say. The outbound platform is a little barren!

Nearby points of interest: Ayer’s town center looks like it has some cool places! Furthermore, there’s a rail trail!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fitchburg)

Overall, it’s actually not that bad, as far as inaccessible Commuter Rail stations. I mean, yeah, it could (& should) be better. But, given far worse stations exist on this very same line, I think this is deserving of an okay score.

Rating: 6/10

Belmont Center is the other Commuter Station in, well, Belmont. I’ve already covered Waverley Square with its hideous salmon walled glory. Now, let’s check out its equally inaccessible, but less hideous, counterpart in the town center.

The station, much like Waverley, is a pair of low-level and rather inaccessible platforms located on the Fitchburg Line. However, unlike Waverley, it’s not in a trench and theoretically could be made accessible with a lift and ramp on each side. However, unlike Waverley, negotiating boarding/alighting here involves what amounts to a sobriety test as the train is VERY, VERY TILTED. The outbound platform has fuck all for anything aside from a couple wastebaskets. That’s right – you don’t even get BENCHES heading outbound. Granted, officially, you don’t get anything inbound either, but AT LEAST you get the Lions Club staircase as a makeshift shelter! Speaking of, the Lions Club has taken on residence in the old station house – and as of me being here, was holding a Christmas tree sale. Neat! There’s also buses, but none of them stop directly at the station and require a walk that’s about 3-5 minutes and some j-walking. Why a bus stop can’t be located at Royal Road in front of the Lions Club is beyond me. Hmm…I wonder if this connection issue changes with the BNRD?

*does research*

Well, I actually have an answer, and that answer is actually YES. So, the 74/75 presumably would get a new stop closer to the Lions Club, and in the town center itself, AND the proposed route 54 would run right past the outbound platform on its way between Waltham and Arlington. Now, whether or not it comes to fruition, I don’t know, but it’d solve a major issue with the station. Nevertheless, the current setup kinda works, as annoying as it is with the lack of crosswalks in the area.

The good: You can get a bus from here to Harvard for $1.70! Meanwhile, going from here to Porter costs upwards of $6, if memory is right. (WHY?!) In all seriousness, it serves the town center. Yeah, I don’t have much. At least the Lions Club is there???

The bad: WHY WHY WHY?! THERE’S NO SHELTER ON EITHER PLATFORM UNLESS YOU HIDE IN THE STAIRS BY THE LIONS CLUB, THERE’S NO PEDESTRIAN-FRIENDLY ACCESS FROM THE OUTBOUND 74/75’S LAST STOP – OR FROM AN INBOUND RUN’S FIRST STOP (PRESENTLY), BUSES DON’T EVEN GO FURTHER INTO BELMONT FROM HERE, IT ISN’T ACCESSIBLE, WALKING THROUGH A TRAIN HERE IS A GODDAMN FREAKIN’ SOBRIETY TEST WORSE THAN WESTERLY OR SHARON– YA BETTER NOT BE DRUNK! JUST, WHY?! WAVERLEY AT LEAST HAS PLANS TO BECOME ACCESSIBLE IN THE WORKS, BUT NOTHING FOR THIS SHITHOLE OF A STATION. IF IT WEREN’T FOR THE FACT THE TOWN LOOKS COOL FROM THE WINDOW OF A TRAIN, AND THIS WAS MY ONLY IMPRESSION OF BELMONT, I’D PRESUME THE TOWN WAS A SHITHOLE! YA KNOW WHAT, MAYBE BELMONT IS FULL OF NIMBYS WHO HATE TRAINS. I’M SORRY EVERYONE BUT I CANNOT GIVE THIS STATION A HIGH SCORE. NO WONDER WHY NOBODY USES IT! FURTHERMORE, WHY IN THE NAME OF PHILLIP ENG DOES IT COST LESS TO DO BUS+RED LINE, THAN IT COSTS TO GO LITERALL ONE FREAKIN’ STOP, ALSO TO THE RED LINE?!?! YOU DON’T EVEN GET AN INTEGRATED TRANSFER! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?! WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!? FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKING FUCK THIS STATION SUCKS AND MAKES ME ANGRY! I CAN’T EVEN WRITE ANYTHING FUNNY ABOUT IT, IT’S THAT BAD! AT LEAST WAVERLEY HAS THE SALMON WALLS!

Nearby points of interest: There’s actually Belmont Center, the Lions Club, and some local businesses and even a bookstore!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fitchburg)
MBTA bus (74, 75)

Overall, THIS STATION SUCKS AND WOULD’VE BEEN HORRIFICALLY BAD TO END THE FITCHBURG LINE ON IF THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ISN’T ALSO ON THE FITCHBURG LINE!

Rating: 1.5/10

South Acton is a small commuter station that, while still in a rural area, isn’t exactly “middle of nowhere” like Littleton is. It’s also the last stop before trains run express to Porter Square during rush hour. So, with that in mind, let’s look at this station.

South Acton is a pretty bogstandard new-build Commuter Rail station with two side platforms, an overpass, and an elevator on each side for accessibility. Entrances also exist on each side towards local streets, and a sizable parking lot exists on the outbound side as well. The platforms are standard with wastebaskets, benches, and yellow dot matrix signage. There’s even a bike locker and …a busway? What bus could possibly stop here?!

*takes a look*

Oh….

WAIT YOU MEAN THE SIGNAGE FOR THE CAT BUS STILL EXISTS?! Well shit. Apparently, the bus actually DID pull in as well, so the CAT does in fact live on in a post-COVID world. Noone got on or off though, which has me thinking its ridership is nonexistent. Well, that’s sad. Apparently a Boxborough bus serves here too, but nothing came in so as far as I’m concerned, it’s just a concept of a plan. And, if you’re willing to walk, you can actually reach the town center. It’s just a mile! Overall, not bad though!

The good: It’s got buses! Furthermore, it’s fully accessible, has an overpass, elevators that don’t reek of piss, and there’s actually something close by!

The bad: There really isn’t that much, but it’s still better than nothing. I genuinely don’t have a lot negative to say.

Nearby points of interest: There isn’t a lot in the immediate vicinity, but I heard the Discovery Museum is pretty cool! (walk north on Main St.!)

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fitchburg)
Cross-Acton Transit
Boxborough Fixed Route (allegedly???)

Overall, I don’t have anything bad to say. Pretty good and inoffensive. Yay!

Rating: 8.5/10

Littleton/495 is a big park & ride station out in, well, Littleton. Located adjacent to the interchange between Rte. 2 and I-495 off Foster Street, it’s surprisingly very rural. Well, I endured an arctic blast to be able to talk about this station. So, here we are, at Littleton/I-495.

The station is like most park & ride locations in that it does not have a station house or anything. It’s also located pretty far from anything walkable and, as such, gets most of its ridership from people driving in from places like Boxborough, Westford, and Harvard. Hell, MART even runs a peak-hour shuttle from here to Harvard’s town hall. Outside that, the platform is an island with a pretty standard setup. Two tracks, and a ramp to the parking lots. Yellow dot matrix signs exist, as does some history and benches. Nevertheless, this station is a big improvement from what existed before 2013. Just imagine a rinky dinky little shitty microstation with about 20 spots, similar to Ayer in appearance. Yeah. This one’s a big improvement.

The good: It’s a bigass park & ride off the junction of two highways! It’s also fully accessible!

The bad: …there’s nothing nearby.

Nearby points of interest: Absolutely nothing. Seriously. Absolutely freakin’ nothing.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fitchburg)
MART (Boston Shuttle, Harvard Commuter)

Overall, yeah it’s nothing special to go home about. Sorry. 🙁

Rating: 6/10

Fitchburg is a modestly-sized city in north-central Massachusetts. Located along the Nashua River, it is the namesake for the Commuter Rail line serving the city, and historically, the railroad company that served the northern bits of Central and Western Massachusetts. Now, let’s look at the station itself.

The station used to be the terminus of the line until 2016, when the 4.5 mile extension to the Wachusett park & ride opened. Even before this, it was the longest northside line, and the longest line on weekends (trains do not serve Wickford Junction on weekends). The setup is actually pretty simple: you have a siding and two through tracks for freight trains, with the station bearing a mini-high platform and a low-level section that goes a while. The platform is also curved, bears a sheltered area, has seating and wastebaskets, and yellow dot matrix signs. There is also a parking garage and a number of bus berths for MART buses. The MART building was also open when I came here, with a restroom, a decently-sized waiting area, a yellow dot matrix sign for the Commuter Rail, a cafe (that was closed), and even a ticketing office and a taxi office. Sadly, part of it was closed off due to an unfortunate incident, but it was nice and warm no less. Neato! It was also pretty impressive to see the seemingly giant rolling hills from here. There, however, IS a future for this station: a major stop on Northern Tier Rail! If this comes to be, it’d be one of several stops on a proposed state-funded train route between North Station and North Adams (via Greenfield and Fitchburg).

The good: It serves downtown Fitchburg! Furthermore, it’s accessible (unlike most of the Fitchburg Line), has an open waiting room on weekends, and has plenty of parking. Furthermore, if proposals come to fruition with Northern Tier Rail, this station will also become an Amtrak station! Neat!

The bad: I don’t have a lot of negatives to say. I guess the upper level of the garage being closed in winter? Why is it a mini-high and not full-length though? I genuinely don’t have anything to say bad.

Nearby points of interest: Fitchburg and the places MART can bring you! This IS their central hub, after all!

Transit connections:
MART (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, Boston Shuttle, Clinton/Worcester Shuttle, Wachusett Commuter Shuttle, FSU Shuttle, Intercity/MWCC Shuttle)
Commuter Rail (Fitchburg)

Overall, it’s a really good station, with a lot of connections and pretty much most of MART is accessible here. I genuinely don’t have a lot negative to say about it, and is something I genuinely expect from an intermodal transit center in a modestly-sized city.

Rating: 8/10

Ah, goody, a new bus route! Well, after doing my entry on Brandeis/Roberts, I’ve gotten the 553 to head back towards Newton and the Green Line. The route’s layover point is at the stop at Angleside Road, adjacent to the Commuter Rail’s inbound platform. After getting pics of the station, I went up to the bus and boarded.

The route begins going down South Street, opening the doors at the crossing, closing them, and continuing, largely serving Brandeis. Eventually, though, after a short deviation into Boston Children’s Waltham hospital and back out, we would turn down Main Street and eventually into Central Square. We picked up some people, however it wasn’t a lot. But, we did get a number of people from the Commuter Rail station in Waltham’s town center. The driver, however, did fuck someone over by not letting them board with a bicycle. Whoops.

We cross the tracks over into southern Waltham and, soon enough, Newton. Along the way it was much of the same, town center-y vibes to go around, until it became single-family housing again. We turned down Maple St., and back onto Moody St., and kept going down it until it became Lexington and River Streets. Soon enough, thankfully, though, things would become a little denser as we turned down Elm Street, looped around West Newton’s Commuter Rail station through a mini-Supercollider. We exited at Washington Street, continued down it, passing by Newtonville, and eventually we reached the infamous Newton Supercollider at Newton Corner. One complete loop around it and we were done, as the bus would return to the garage from whence it came. YAY!

The good: It serves Brandeis University! It also serves a considerable amount of suburban Newton as well, and Waltham’s CR station! It’s also West Newton’s sole full-time bus connection.

The bad: It could use better headways… (also, it used to run express into downtown?!). It also doesn’t run Sundays.

Nearby points of interest: Brandeis University, Washington St. (Newton), and Waltham Center mainly.

Overall, it’s a decent route. It could use better headways and Sunday service, but all things considered, it’s solid as-is, if a little low ridership. Say, what’s the plan for this post-BNRD, anyways?

*looks up the BNRD*

Huh, apparently the plan calls for axing this for a new route 53 to serve Brandeis, originating at Market Basket, and terminating at Woodland Station. It also calls for 50-90 minute headways, and …not serving Central Square? Weird choice, MBTA. Replacing Waltham CR-Newton Corner service would have a new route 58 running at similar headways but otherwise running the same route, with an extension out to Watertown Yard. I mean…it’s not the worst thing, but I do wonder what makes it worthwhile splitting this into two, rather than at least extending the proposed route 53 to deviate, in a way, to Central Square. Yeah, I feel kinda mixed about this, but I’m also not exactly the target demographic (I do not ride the 553 regularly)

Rating: 6.5/10

Getting around to doing this entry was surprisingly difficult as I also had to time it in a way where I’d be able to take the 553 to get out. Fortunately, I was able to do exactly that. Unfortunately, I had all of 5 minutes, and as such this probably won’t be the finest Chelsea’s Corner entry. I digress, welcome to Roberts.

Brandeis/Roberts is located on the Brandeis University campus in Waltham. Who’s Robert? Well, that’s actually the name of the neighborhood that Brandeis (& this train station) is located in. The 553 has a bus connection on the south side of the South Street grade crossing. On the southbound platform, you have what looks like a sheltered waiting area, benches, a red dot matrix sign (two actually!), and a small amount of parking. Meanwhile, the north platform has a lot less and a slightly larger lot. There’s also a mini-high that’s fully sheltered. Neat! Changing sides is done either with a grade crossing near the mini-high, or at the South Street crossing. The land-use of the station is dominated by Brandeis University, with a small office park on the south side. Otherwise, it’s all residential with apartment complexes nearby and the odd strip mall.

The good: It serves Brandeis! Furthermore, it’s accessible and has a bus connection (albeit relatively infrequent). It also serves the mildly dense Roberts and Angleside neighborhoods – there’s apartment complexes, for what it’s worth. The mini-high looks kinda cool, for what it’s worth, too!

The bad: For a station that serves Brandeis University, service is kinda relatively infrequent, between the 553 and the Commuter Rail. Also, that grade crossing can cause issues if a train is stopped at the mini-high. 🙁

Nearby points of interest: Brandeis is the big one!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Fitchburg)
MBTA bus (553)

Overall, it’s an alright station. Pretty good, even, by Fitchburg Line standards! YAY! It’s otherwise pretty average, disappointingly. Oh well!

Rating: 7.5/10

Most people probably know of Greenbush as Scituate’s main MBTA station. However, there’s also another station in the village of North Scituate, that’s not as big parking-wise, but still has things to do around it. Let’s look at it.

After taking GATRA GO here (RIP the SLOOP), the first thing I noticed was the parking lot. It was considerably smaller vs. Greenbush’s. Also, there’s actually stuff to do around here! I mean, yeah, it still isn’t a lot, but it’s better than a lonely convenience store and Dunks, with transit-oriented unaffordable housing. In terms of the station itself, it’s essentially a copy-paste of Greenbush. And, as I said earlier, North Scituate is a small village (sadly not the main economic center – that’s Scituate Harbor and the Greenbush Line goes nowhere near there), but the fact it’s walkable at all is good. It does annoy me there’s no density near the station but eh, whatever. It could be worse.

The good: It’s actually located in an inhabited area and isn’t just a sea of parking! There’s even a nice little walkpath!

The bad: There really isn’t any decent land use aside from the small village nearby. No affordable housing either but meh, whatever.

Nearby points of interest: North Scituate looks cool!

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Greenbush)
GATRA (GATRA GO)

Overall, I don’t have too much to say about this station. I mean, it passes and is the bar for what a useful station should be for anyone. It’s overall not that bad.

Rating: 8/10