Woah, a new terminal station entry?! Yep. I took a trip out to Scituate and decided to check the place out, ride GATRA GO (RIP the SLOOP 🙁 ), and do two station entries (this & North Scituate). So, welcome to Greenbush!
Or, “Frank M. Hynes Station at Greenbush”
Greenbush is your standard Old Colony-esque terminal station with a decently-sized parking lot, an on-site yard, and relatively minimal bus connections (or even signs a bus connection exists!). The platform is sheltered, there’s benches, and unusually a red dot matrix sign (rather than the usual yellow on the Kingston and Middleborough Lines – though, the Greenbush Line came a full decade after those). Around the station is not a lot, there’s some convenience stores, a restaurant or two, and transit-oriented housing. However, it is not “affordable”, but rather “luxury” housing. Yikes. Now, in terms of bus connections…..it’s GATRA GO. Again. Historically, it was the SLOOP (Scituate Loop), but that got killed off earlier this year and I never had the chance to ride it. Tragic. However, there is a marina close by!
End of the line!GREENBUSHAt least it’s a full high level platform!Luxury housing?! Is this compliant with the MBTA Communities Act?!TRAINThe layover facility!Welcome to Greenbush!The station from afarBack towards South Station!HOLY SHIT IS THAT A SLOOP LIVERY?! OH MY FUCKING GOD!
The good: It’s sorta close to housing and, despite being a park & ride, is in a somewhat walkable area! And, there used to be a second parking lot that actually got redeveloped into the aforementioned luxury housing! Train service is also slightly more frequent vs. most of the system on weekends! Lastly, the platform is a full high level affair. Sweet!
The bad: No affordable housing nearby! Yeah, I know, it’s not part of the station itself, but I feel like land use matters with cookie cutter-esque station entries! And here, it’s all luxury housing primarily! Or, suburbia. I mean hey, it could be worse, some stations have only a country club in their walkshed…
Nearby points of interest: Some shopping plazas, a golf course, a marina, and luxury housing. There’s actually a little bit going on near here, even if it’s not the town center or Scituate Harbor.
Transit connections: Commuter Rail (Greenbush) GATRA (GATRA GO – RIP the SLOOP)
Overall, as far as park & rides go, it actually isn’t that bad. Granted, land use could be better, and there really oughta be affordable and mixed-use development around here, but it certainly could be worse…
I said a stadium AND NOTHING ELSE. Lansdowne serves Brookline Ave. and the LMA, not just Fenway Park. I digress, here’s Foxboro.
Gillette Stadium!Hi, Robert Kraft!
So, after getting off GATRA GO, I decided to explore Patriot Place a little bit. It was pretty quiet, though that’s unsurprising given it was only 11AM on a Thursday morning. That aside, the walk to the Commuter Rail was….not the greatest. It, however, turned out I was a massive idiot and there was a perfectly functional walkway. Whoops. Nevertheless, the shopping center is vibey, but not very transit-accessible or transit-friendly. 🙁 Damn, Robert Kraft really couldn’t pay for a GATRA bus station and/or better service?
Patriot Place!The stadiumThat’s a lot of parking…The entrance to the stadiumTONS AND TONS OF PARKING (i think this lot was the commuter lot)FUCK YOU, TICKETMASTER!An MBTA lollipop? Out here?!Showcase Cinemas!Wayfinding!That last pic of parking was not of commuter parking. Commuter parking is lot 4C.
The station itself is accessed by an underpass adjacent to lot 4C (the designated commuter parking lot). A short walkway brings you to a …rather lackluster terminal station. The digital signage doesn’t even work. There’s relatively barebones amenities here. Yes, there’s decent wayfinding, but that’s about it. The path doesn’t even bring you near the mini-high, and the fact it’s even a fucking mini-high AT ALL is really, really, REALLY, REALLY BAD for game day ridership. I can’t help but imagine this is a massive bottleneck on Sundays in particular for Pats home games. Never mind that, what about heavy concert-induced ridership or any ridership invoked by a home Revs game?! Hell, now that I think about it, what about when the Army-Navy games were hosted here last winter?!?!?! WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE PLATFORM TO SERVE TWO LINES ON GAME DAYS?!?!?!?!?!??!?? WOULD IT HURT TO BUILD A SECOND PLATFORM AND HAVE BOSTON TRAINS DWELL ON ONE PLATFORM AND PROVIDENCE TRAINS ON ANOTHER FOR GAME DAYS?! WHERE DO TRAINS LAY OVER DURING GAMES?! I digress. The station itself, disappointingly, is rather bad. I mean, it doesn’t even look like it should pass as accessible. This is considered accessible yet Mishawum isn’t?! Yeah, this station sucks, especially for game day service. Sorry.
Station signage!This actually looks nice.The walkwayThe platform.Shelter and benchesTowards Walpole and …Framingham???The train, looking towards MansfieldThe only place where you can go inbound somewhere other than BostonThis is bad.
The good: It serves a major sporting arena! It’s also technically accessible!
The bad: THE GAP ON THE MINI-HIGH IS TOO DAMN LARGE, YET THIS IS ENOUGH FOR MISHAWUM TO BE INACCESSIBLE?! The station is barren. There’s no level boarding, which presumably leads to it taking forever to get off the train on game days. The transit accessibility is bad. Train headways are also bad on weekdays, with nothing at all on weekends. Never mind that, WHY IS THERE ONLY ONE PLATFORM?! Lastly, you can’t even take GATRA here on game days – as they SUSPEND SERVICE due to traffic concerns. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?! THE PLATFORM ISN’T EVEN LONG ENOUGH FOR A 12 CAR GAME DAY SET!
Nearby points of interest: Good luck going anywhere other than Gillette Stadium or Patriot Place.
Overall, this station is genuinely bad. I mean, yeah, it’s accessible on paper, but why? Just, why? For a station that sees heavy ridership skewing towards particular events, it’d REALLY HELP if there was level boarding on all cars rather than the first two. Also, a second platform would do wonders, as would extending the existing platform to accommodate a 12 car game day set.
Oh golly. I promised on the Miles in Transit Discord server that I’ll try speedrunning GATRA on the basis of losing a bet, or something like that. Well, I kinda forgot about that and never had the time or motivation to. But, since then, we finally have…ONE GATRA entry. Welcome to GATRA GO! Unfortunately…this one was about a year in the making due to a number of mishaps in the making. Here they are:
ATTEMPT #1: I first attempted to review GATRA GO on the same day I visited Forge Park/495. Unfortunately, GATRA GO didn’t want to cooperate and it kept telling me there were no trips between Forge Park and Mansfield. How could this be?! They’re the same damn zone! Just look!
At first glance, you wouldn’t think twice of this! “I can just go from Forge Park to Mansfield!” Well….NOPE! Just look!
WHY
It turns out (thanks random internet person for this insight!) that, there’s actually a historical reason for this weirdness (you’d think it’d be fixed?!) AND not only that, you have to transfer LITERALLY ANYWHERE IN FOXBORO – BEING THE ONLY TOWN WITH A ZONAL OVERLAP. WHY?! So, I was left out in the rather cold November evening, having to dial an Uber to Mansfield Station, as GATRA fucked me over at Forge Park/495. I must also add – THIS REPLACED LITERALLY ALL THE FRANKLIN, NORFOLK, FOXBORO, AND MANSFIELD-AREA FIXED ROUTES! THIS ALSO REPLACED THE SLOOPY SLOOP IN SCITUATE! WHY GATRA?!
So long, civilization…I was one with the quietness of Forge Park in the twilight…Mansfield after hours…
ATTEMPT #2: A week or two later, I was going up to visit Brooke among other things in Boston, it was still very cold (it was December at this point), and I said “fuck it” and decided to get revenge on GATRA GO. Unfortunately, very VERY long wait times said “lol fuck you” and even though I got off my train at 8ish AM, I wouldn’t be picked up until closer to 10, guaranteeing missing a Foxboro train I wanted to connect to. This also meant I’d be stuck in Foxboro for a couple of hours. 🙁
ATTEMPT #3: About 10 months after, I decided to come back with pretty much the entire Franklin Line under my belt and with a much better understanding of how GATRA works, and having much more time on my hands (now that I wasn’t dating Brooke, though we’re still friends, and I wasn’t trying to ride her train either as I didn’t know if I’d still have steam – or make it to Heath St. in time). This set of circumstances worked in my hands, even if I still had to wait…
*checks notes*
40 MINUTES?! Oh brother…
That’s what a bus looks like – but I didn’t get this in FranklinJesus FUCKING Christ…
So, when I got off in Norfolk, I dialed a GATRA GO bus and it took 46 minutes to arrive, coming from the general area of Franklin. Yeah, those wait times are BAD. But, the bus actually DID come eventually. It came, crossed the Franklin Line grade crossing, and pulled into the station parking lot to pick me up. And, oh god…
Onwards!
So, there were four other people, the operator and three passengers. The passengers each introduced themselves (Liv and Maddie, who were vlogging, and their friend Elias. If any of y’all see this, hi!) and we all talked a bit. Everyone else was going to Crumbl at Patriot Place, and I said “eh, why not?” (I was planning on a lunch in downtown Boston or at Five Guys in Foxboro). The two ladies continued vlogging as we got on Pond Street. Really, this was a straight shot more than anything and we made pretty good time, for what it’s worth. Didn’t pick anyone else up along the way though, but it was a rather quick ride. Though, I must wonder though: why are there no fixed routes? I get “low ridership” but ya know, ADVERTISE THEM. RUN THEM AT A CONSISTENT SCHEDULE 7 DAYS A WEEK! I digress. And then, I think I might’ve heard the most Gen Alpha brainrot thing I’ve ever heard from anyone. I’m not even sure if Gen Alpha is old enough to use GATRA GO. But, here we go:
“Sigma Ohio Skibidi.”
Please bleach that one out of my memory. Bleh. Cue the gif of Homer Simpson pouring bleach in his eyes, even. That aside, the ride was pretty comfortable, relaxing even, and there wasn’t even a jiggly wheelchair lift. Good job, GATRA! (or whoever owns the buses for GATRA) Eventually, we made it to Patriot Place and parted ways. And, to Maddie and Liv, I wish y’all the best of luck with vlogging.
Suburbia!Some more stuffA medical facilitySee, Weston?! Norfolk is nice enough to have sidewalks on their streets!Parking lot!U.S. ROUTE ONE?!BIG FREAKIN’ STROADWelcome to Patriot Place!Hi Robert Kraft!!!
The good: It’ll get you literally anywhere in the zone!
The bad: WHY ARE THERE NO FIXED ROUTES?! LEGIT, PATRIOT PLACE CAN AND SHOULD BE A PULSE POINT FOR LOCAL GATRA FIXED ROUTES GOING TO FRANKLIN, FOXBORO, MANSFIELD, AND NORFOLK. SEND A DAMN BUS TO WALPOLE CENTER TO CONNECT WITH THE 34E EVEN. AND FOR THAT MATTER, WHY DID THE SLOOP GET REPLACED WITH THIS?! WHY DOESN’T IT CONNECT TO ANY FIXED ROUTES THAT LINK IT TO THE MBTA IN WEYMOUTH OR HINGHAM?! WHY DOES THE PLYMOUTH ZONE NOT CONNECT TO THE KINGSTON T STATION?! WHY?! WHY DOES THE PEMBROKE ZONE EVEN EXIST AS A SEPARATE ENTITY?! WAIT TIMES ARE ALSO GARBAGE UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHEN YOU’LL BE LEAVING AND WHEN YOU’LL BE LEAVING YOUR DESTINATION FOR YOUR RETURN – MOST PEOPLE AREN’T INFLEXIBLE LIKE THAT! THAT’S IF IT EVEN WORKS AT ALL.
Nearby points of interest: Franklin’s town center is cool, as is Patriot Place! You also have Plymouth’s downtown, Scituate & the Greenbush Line, and whatever the hell is in Pembroke.
Overall, WHY?! WHY DID THEY KILL FIXED ROUTES FOR THESE?! JUST WHY?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Rating: 2.5/10
THIS SHOULD SUPPLEMENT FIXED ROUTES, NOT REPLACE THEM. GATRA GO, MORE LIKE GATRA GO FUCK YOURSELF.
What, you were expecting me to go all the way to the far southern fringes of the Northeast Regional’s service area? Not quite, pal! Instead, Norfolk, Massachusetts is on the to-do list for today. Let’s look at it.
Translucent signage???
Norfolk is a relatively small station serving the town of Norfolk, Massachusetts. It’s a park and ride in a small town with not a lot nearby. There’s a partly-built lifestyle center, however I didn’t look at it much. In terms of stuff near the station proper, you just have a small strip mall, a Dunks, and a church. In terms of the station itself, it’s normal, though you have 2 tracks but one side platform (track 1 isn’t complete!), a mini-high, a red dot matrix sign, and a grade crossing along with benches and wastebaskets. Not a lot exciting here. However, there IS something unusual: the Medway “T” Shuttle stops here. Is it signed? NOPE! Because what’s wayfinding?! At least you can GATRA GO if you need out! (stay tuned…)
F40PH!Towards Forge Park!The platform and a MOW vehicle!I suspect any work had to do with the 2nd track being worked onRed dot matrix signageThose signals are facing the wrong way.Shelter!Small town vibesThe crossing from afarSorry, no train horn! D:
The good: It’s in a small town and has parking for people to drive in!
The bad: The GATRA bus connections could be signed…., also the fact there isn’t a 2nd platform here is just…why?!
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?
Oh that’s a mouthful…Or, just simply “Franklin/Dean”, I guess…
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.
An F40 and the under-construction mini-highBye!The mini-high, looking towards the Union St. crossingThe station buildingThat’s it?! Just one track?!Towards Forge Park! (& the overpass of Main St.)PARKINGThe disused station buildingI usually don’t like getting political here, but it’s my site and I can bend the rules as I see fit: GO VOTE, DAMMIT!Overpass shot!Downtown Franklin looks cool. Also, some GATRA GO spotted!Overpass shot towards Forge ParkClassic New England vibesDEAN COLLEGE?!The T globe!I hope the addition of the mini-highs lead to these getting replaced with a newer departure board!
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!
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…
Wait, didn’t this one get closed? Well…..about that. They actually reopened it today (as of me writing this) for limited peak-direction service. What’s it like? Actually, it’s…….actually very, VERY sad. Let’s take a look, shall we?
Helvetica in the dark!
So, I was the first person to get off a train here, at the unholy hour of 4:30ish AM. Yep! THAT early. The station, however, is pretty bogstandard. While you don’t have a way to cross to the other side, all trains that serve this station stops on the outbound platform. The station itself is well-lit, and the mini-high has a bench for waiting. The low-level platform is fairly long, but usually only one door opens here. The tactile strip is inconsistently placed, weirdly enough. Not sure what’s up with that. There’s a decent amount of parking, a Market Basket nearby, RIPTA and GATRA buses, and even a new departure board alongside the ’80s-era red dot matrix warning signs. This feels cursed. That aside, you have Newport Avenue overhead and I-95 a stone’s throw away. As for railfanning, it’s alright, all things considered.
See ya!!!Parking!Newport Avenue!Stairs to street levelBenches!Towards I-95!The mini-high!It seems pretty well-litOh this look vintage…THE DAMN CROSSWALK BUTTONS DON’T WORK.Looking towards Bristol PlaceTowards Wickford Junction!The decrepit outbound platformPay up!Here comes somethingExpress MBTA train!Another shot of the mini-highCertified insane transit enjoyer?!
The good: It’s Attleboro’s relief station! Or, it would be… It’s also well-lit and in walking distance to Market Basket! At least you have RIPTA and GATRA?
The bad: This station is in a sorry state of affairs! They didn’t bother updating ANYTHING. Signage is decrepit still, there’s no crossover mechanism resulting in limited service, and ESPECIALLY the fact odds are real good this station is rendered obsolete by Attleboro and Pawtucket/Central Falls these days! Never mind that, the bus stop is a literal hike away across the parking lot! There isn’t even a designated safe spot for GATRA to pick people up, so good luck flagging a GATRA bus down, ‘lest you end up like Miles in his efforts to ride the 16 back in the day. It’s also very much NOT conducive to pedestrian access, as the platform is the sidewalk. Eww!
Nearby points of interest: GATRA can bring you to Attleboro’s town center and Emerald Square, while RIPTA can bring you to Pawtucket and Providence!
Overall, yeah, no, this is very bad. I think, this takes the cake for “shittiest NEC station I’ve reviewed so far”, and is quite possibly the worst one between Boston and New York. Yeah, sorry but not sorry! The fact it’s also limited service rather than MassDOT funding station replacement is also just bad.
(NOTE: this will be rendered obsolete when the new Middleborough station opens with the South Coast extension. That will be linked when it’s ready.)
Middleborough, Middleborough, Middleborough… What do you have as an end-of-line Commuter Rail station? Well…..
OH LAWD THAT’S A LONG SIGN
This has got to be, quite possibly, one of the longest station names on the entire Commuter Rail system to be printed in Helvetica Bold typeface. Maybe second to “Commuter Rail to Boston” heading Newtonville (is that inbound or outbound?). Well, whatever. The station is pretty standard. You have your shelter, a departure board with all trains signed for Track 1 (duh, there’s only one track), a copious amount of parking, and allegedly a GATRA bus connection. I mean, it exists in timetables and GTFS at least? There’s also some apartments nearby, though not to the same degree as Windsor Gardens. Lastly, there’s also the CapeFLYER during the summer, which if rumors are to be had, this station is expected to be orphaned to CapeFLYER-only status after South Coast Rail opens, and presumably with a rename to not cause confusion with new Middleborough? Maybe rename to “North Lakeville” or something? Location? It’s not really in Middleborough or near the town center. Eww.
The trainDeparture boardThat’s a lot of parkingIs this necessary?!There’s even a kiss & ride, and I think GATRA boards here?Towards BostonAnother signYet another parking pictureI hate photographing these.An HSP facing towards Hyannis
The good: It’s got some bicycle racks, a lot of parking (maybe too much?), shelters and usual amenities to expect from a standard Commuter Rail station. It’s also got full level boarding (which will be a common theme with this section of the network) so yay.
The bad: It’s kinda in the middle of nowhere, far from anything…
Nearby points of interest: Not a lot. I mean, if you’re willing to walk a bit down a stroad, you have a Shell gas station and a local pizzeria!
So, I ended up taking a ride on the Franklin Line all the way to the very end (first time I’ve ridden the Franklin Line beyond Readville!) and decided to do Forge Park. I also wanted to railfan a little at the Forge Parkway grade crossing, so there’s that too. Anyways, what is Forge Park like? Well, here we go.
Or, Forge Park/ROUTE 495???I don’t think God intended for pedestrians to walk Route 140…
So, my first order of business was to railfan that damn grade crossing. I wanted to! Could you blame me?! And, quite truthfully, I think the treacherous walk down Route 140 was worth it. Just look!
CLEAR!THE CROSSINGCP FORGEThis entire area is one big planned development.Ready for departure!Cresting the curve at Forge Parkway!The purring cat of the Commuter RailBye!!!
Okay, so I walked down West Central St. to the north parking lot. Yes, this station has TWO lots. And, as a byproduct, it also is the only station to have doors open on both sides (at least during peak hours) because of said dual-platform setup. This is unlike any other station where the doors open either on the left (for islands, usually) or right (for sides, usually). This is more like if someone made Park Street or Sullivan a terminal station. Yeah. The southern platform has the mini-high, there’s your usual amenities, a red dot matrix sign or two, and even a station building which looked closed. How sad. Oh well!
Parking!That’s a lot of parkingThe station headhouse from afarIt’s so beautiful…A pedestrian overpassWELCOME TO FORGE PARK/495The station building. It looks like it hasn’t been used in a bit.The mini-high and a crossingThe south parking lot
The good: It’s clear the station is built to serve as Franklin’s (& northern RI’s) parking sink. For that, it does the job – and pretty well at that. It’s also got two platforms, making it easier to access both lots while a train dwells (which happens a lot!). Furthermore, it’s also right off I-495 as well. It’s also accessible, unlike Dean College/Franklin Station (yeah, that’s a mouthful!)
The bad: Eh, the station house is a mess. Would also be nice if the north platform had a mini-high too – or if both/either platforms were full-length high level.
Nope, I’m not riding this one. I refuse to. If what Miles has written about this is to go by, I’m not even gonna attempt to ride this.
That’s it.
Yup, that’s it. Just the Bloom Terminal in Taunton, and the Middleborough Council on Aging. How bad is it? Well, let’s see. It’s a straight shot between the two towns, three times a day, three days a week. Uh, no. I think I’ll pass on that. It also says there’s no connections, but that’s clearly a load of dookie, since it not only gets close to the Middleborough MBTA station, it also ends at the Bloom Terminal in Taunton! What?!
The routing
Now apparently, if Miles’ experience from 2018 is to go by, it’s a call-in reservation system, but there’s nothing on the GATRA website to suggest it. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they just harvested a Dial-a-Ride van for this route. And, if the GATRA website is full of crap (which I doubt) and it is a call-in service with no info (again, which I doubt, since I don’t think GATRA would go that low), then one could plausibly end up with a similar experience to Miles when he rode it. But, overall, it looks like it’s since become a normal-ish GATRA route, and as such probably isn’t that painful, right?
The good: These two cities need to be connected together!!! Why, exactly, is there nothing else between them?!
The bad: They give this thing (seemingly) no time. Maybe the schedule is padded, but there’s no layover time each way.
Nearby points of interest: Taunton, a senior center in Middleborough. Yeah, there isn’t much.
Overall, it can’t be that bad, right? Just how much can they have bungled it up? Besides, it seems more normal now on paper than when Miles wrote his entry on it. Huh, well crap, guess I gotta ride this now.
Rating: 5/10
Yeah, the 5/10 is a tentative score, until I actually get around to riding this thing.
Alrighty! So, this one ended up being a bit more interesting than I expected. Is there anything particularly special about Attleboro? Well….
The parking
The platforms are staggered, as a start. Furthermore, the mini-highs (oh my, so surprising!) are on the faaaaaar end of each platform. There’s also a station building on either side, however the one on the southbound side is owned by a private business, and the northbound building is only open between 5 and 11 AM, per Google. A small amount of parking can also be found over here.
See ya!Oh god…A bit out of date, but technically right.GATRA Dial a Ride!
Then there’s the GATRA waiting area. Oh god. I am not even mentally prepared to tell y’all of the trouble I experienced with trying to document this particular part of Attleboro. However, since duty calls, here we go. The station building is small, and sometimes houses bus schedules in brochure form for GATRA. Today, it only had the 15. There’s also a GATRA ticket machine which wasn’t working when I went in. But, it gets worse. There were also a bunch of teenagers inside. Normally this wouldn’t be of note, however it gets even worse. They were smoking. Not just smoking tobacco. No. They were full-on HOTBOXING THE WHOLE FREAKIN’ ROOM WITH SMOKE FROM A BLUNT! I REPEAT, THEY WERE HOTBOXING THE BUILDING BY SMOKING WAY TOO MUCH FREAKIN’ WEED! AND I INHALED SOME OF THE SMOKE WHEN I NOTICED THEM SMOKING, WHICH WAS TOO LATE! I genuinely never thought getting high would be a byproduct of my escapades. I’m honest to God here. But, no. I get around to reviewing Attleboro and I invariably check the GATRA waiting area, ONLY TO DISCOVER FAR TOO LATE THEY WERE SMOKING THE FUCKING DEVIL’S LETTUCE, GIVING ME A MARIJUANA HIGH! IT MAY AS WELL HAVE BEEN SNOOP DOGG DOING HIS THING WITH THE MJ, AND I WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE! And for those wondering, yes, that meant I did my first GATRA post while higher than the Johnston landfill last night.
Oh dear God
Of course, I snitched on them behind their back to the Dial a Ride driver who was complaining, to which he suggested I flagged down an officer. Bus schedules are also posted on one of the poles outside, however it’s only for the Attleboro GATRA routes. And yes, the station is accessible by virtue of accessible buses and ramps up to the platforms and mini-high. As another fun tidbit, this also used to be an Amtrak stop a long time ago.
To the other side!Northbound with the station buildingsA T.F. Green/Wickford-style countdown clock – but in red?! And yes, there’s only one.GATRA schedules!The MBTA sign
The good: It’s centrally located in downtown Attleboro! It’s also got electrified sidings?! Okay, okay, rant time. WHY THE HOLY NAME OF MICHAEL DUKAKIS CAN’T THE T RUN ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES DOWN TO PROVIDENCE?!
Anyways, before I dig further. It’s also one of the two GATRA hubs (the other will be covered in due time), and the fact there’s TOD nearby is good.
The bad: My main gripe? The mini-highs and the sole countdown sign. Also, the non-working ticket machine in the GATRA waiting area. Yikes.
Nearby points of interest: Well, you got most of GATRA at your fingertips, along with downtown Attleboro. There’s also the Capron Zoo nearby. I’m not very familiar with Attleboro though, beyond South Attl and the zoo, however.
Overall, it’s an interesting little place. And, given the nature of this blog, this place is gonna end up becoming a recurring theme due to it being the GATRA hub of the area. And apparently, if you want to get high without buying weed, just go into the GATRA waiting area while there’s a bunch of teenagers being idiots hotboxing the place.
