Category: Massachusetts

Kingston is an Amtrak-

wait, what? this is a different Kingston? Well shit.

Kingston is an MBTA station located in the middle of an industrial park off Route 3 in, well, Kingston, Massachusetts. It’s one of the two termini for the Kingston/Plymouth (presently just Kingston) Line, and before Plymouth was closed, was more heavily used than Plymouth. With that aside, here’s the station review.

Kingston is a bigass park and ride station in an industrial park, located off Route 3. The platform is pretty bogstandard, with benches, wastebaskets, signage, and shelters. There’s even a kiss & ride area! Also, GATRA stops here! Yes, that’s right! About 6 times a day, the Freedom and Liberty Links stop to serve this station. GATRA’s Seaside Area InterLink (SAIL) also serves here, on the way to Marshfield and Duxbury. Neat! However, given the limited schedule (really? no Saturday bus service to here?!), just buy a fucking Uber instead. Way to go, GATRA. Also, it’s in an industrial wasteland, so land use is pretty bad overall. As a cool note though, the end-of-line layover facility is just beyond the station. However, trains do NOT sit at the station before turning around. Instead, they have to do all their brake testing in the yard before coming back. Oof. But, not a bad station. Just, not a grandiose terminus like Providence or Wickford, or even like Needham Heights or Haverhill.

*does some further research*

YOU MEAN THE STATION USED TO BE LOCATED IN DOWNTOWN KINGSTON?! WHY?! WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T THEY REACTIVATE THE PLATFORM THERE?! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WERE THEY SMOKING?! THERE’S NO REASON THIS STATION HAD TO BE BUILT OTHER THAN SOLELY FOR YARD ACCESS. HOLY FUCKING SHIT, THEY REALLY FUMBLED IT HARD! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!

The good: It’s a bigass parking sink off Route 3! It’s also pretty busy, by extension, being the closest Commuter Rail station to not just Plymouth, but also parts of Plympton, Carver, Wareham, and pretty much the entirity of Cape Cod. (this may, however, change when the New Bedford extension opens in about 3 weeks)

The bad: Really, my main gripes here come down to three things: Land use sucks massively, and bus connections are just bad. Lastly, WHY IS THIS THE STATION, WHEN THEY HAD A PERFECTLY FUCKING USABLE STATION IN DOWNTOWN KINGSTON OFF ROUTE 3A/SUMMER STREET?! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH

Nearby points of interest: It’s an industrial park. Unless you want to walk for half an hour to the Kingston Collection, there’s nothing.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Kingston)
GATRA (Freedom/Liberty Links, SAIL)

Overall, it’s okay. The land use sucks massively and is probably the biggest stinker on the whole line, but there’s still worse on the system.

Rating: 5.5/10

Whitman is yet another bogstandard Commuter Rail station on the Kingston Line, and I do not have any creative introductions to give for this one. Here we go.

Yep. It’s your standard Kingston Line station. Yellow signage? Mhm. Wastebaskets, benches, shelter are all present too, as is a lot of parking. This time, though, it’s split between TWO lots! WOAH! Now, unlike Hanson or Abington, there surprising is no microtransit connection here. However, in terms of cool things, you DO have a railroad turntable. But, since it was covered in snow, I couldn’t get any good pictures. The area is semi-rural as well, as the town proper is a mile away and I wasn’t going to walk it. While I was here, though, I actually got to witness an equipment move heading out to Kingston, so that was cool! The area’s largely pretty quiet though, given there’s not much going on. There is, however, a reminder here of a horrific and tragic incident that happened on May 30th, 2023. For those that are easily bothered by things like this, I won’t go into much detail about it. However, that aside, even though it’s a couple years after the fact, my condolences go out to those directly and indirectly affected by the incident both in the community, and onboard the train in question. I’ll also leave a reminder that it is REALLY important to be vigilant around railroad crossings and be aware of any oncoming trains, as trains CANNOT stop on a dime. Furthermore, there’s no shame in talking to someone or getting help as needed.

The good: The turntable is kinda cool! It’s accessible as well, has usual amenities, all that fun stuff. I feel like a broken record.

The bad: The town is a little ways away but meh, whatever.

Nearby points of interest: The town center is a mile or so away. A decent walk. There’s a couple of shops near the station itself, though. Not many though.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Kingston)

Overall, yeah, yet another “I don’t have a lot to say here” station. It’s got a cool turntable though!

Rating: 7/10

Abington is a modest Commuter Rail station along the MBTA’s Kingston Line, located in, well, Abington. Yeah, I don’t have much to remark about it so this one’s gonna be a short one. Ok? Okay.

Abington is a singular side platform, located off Centre Ave., in Abington. The area isn’t the worst, as both a convenience store and a Dunks exist nearby. One direction towards Centre Ave. brings you to Abington Center and a Walmart, while the other direction brings you to a Stop & Shop and a Target. The station itself is pretty standard with the usual yellow dot matrix signage, benches, and whatnot, along with a copious amount of parking (though, not to an extreme). As for bus connections, you surprisingly do have something, in the form of microtransit. That, of course, would be BAT’s Rockland Flex. Not much to remark on this one. Yeah, sorry.

The good: It exists! It’s got a connection to the Rockland Flex!

The bad: Nothing egregious to note.

Nearby points of interest: Stop & Shop? Target? Yeah, I’m grasping for straws on this one.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Kingston)
BAT (Rockland Flex)

Overall, not much to say here. Yeah, sorry.

Rating: 6.5/10

Halifax is the least-used currently open station on the MBTA’s Kingston Line. With that intro out of the way, let’s see what this least-used station has in store for us……oh fuck.

Whelp, the sense of existential dread is real. Granted, I was stuck here for all of 30 minutes, but it was still the middle of absolutely nowhere. Legit, there’s LITERALLY NOTHING AROUND. THIS STATION IS WHAT ROWLEY AND LITTLETON ARE TO THE NORTH SIDE. This station is so rural, one might be forgiven for thinking this was northern New Hampshire or something. The nearest thing that isn’t sparse housing, is a Walmart located almost 3 miles away (about an hour on foot). There’s some stables close by as well, if you’re into horses, I guess. However, Halifax is quite possibly as rural as things get on the MBTA. And, I looked into it for shits & giggles, Halifax is also one of the reddest towns served by the T (only Freetown and Middleborough are redder). So, yeah. As for the station itself, it isn’t too much. You have two platforms (one is only used for train meets), a parking lot, bicycle racks, a grade crossing, and the usual Kingston Line affair. Not much to say. Not bad, though.

The good: I mean, it’s a park and ride for the people nearby without access to Rte. 3, and by extension can’t get to Kingston as easily! It is also the closest MBTA station to various parts of Pembroke and Plympton! It’s also fully accessible and has the usual Old Colony station amenities. Neat!

The bad: The land use, really. And that’s a pretty big one given the remoteness of this. Not even some TOD? But, given this is Halifax and it’s probably a very hardcore conservative place (given how they voted at the federal level), TOD might be asking for a lot.

Nearby points of interest: Not much.

Transit connections: Commuter Rail (Kingston)

Overall, while the remoteness hurts the station, it’s pretty usable and actually otherwise a very useful station given it’s the least-used on the line.

Rating: 7/10

If this was before 2022, I’d probably be giving this station a rather negative take, on the basis of it being both stupidly close to Wedgemere and having the bus connections in place of Wedgemere, and being inaccessible in the town center. However, last October, they reopened the station in an accessible form. Now, it’s still not complete, but it’s complete enough to where I’m considering it “close enough”. With that in mind, let’s look at this station, shall we?

The station layout is pretty bogstandard, with two full-length high-level platforms. At present, only the rear half of the platforms are open and only the two cars closest to the locomotive platform. But, if you happen to board elsewhere on the train and need accessibility, they do tell you to let the crew know so the appropriate doors platform. A little annoying, but given it’s a stopgap, I’m not holding it against anyone. The elevators didn’t smell of piss (this is Winchester, I sure as fuck hope they don’t!), and to change sides you physically have to go to street level and use the sidewalk. Yeah, no mezzanine, but whatever. It is, however, a little sus to me that they went with a full-length high level platform, yet they couldn’t be arsed to build a second high-level platform at every South Coast Rail station. And, yet, this is the northside’s primary freight corridor! But, whatever, I’ll complain about that when I get around to doing New Bedford-Whale’s Tooth and Fall River-Downtown. The platforms are serviceable, with departure boards, benches, wastebaskets, and all that fun stuff. There’s also parking both on the streets nearby, and in the Waterfield Rd. and Aberjona River lots, and there would also be one lining Laraway Rd., if construction wasn’t happening. Overall though, pretty decent! The 134 also stops nearby (if you count a 7 minute walk as “nearby”), but that’s relatively infrequent.

The good: It’s located in Winchester’s town center, and generally has more around it vs. Wedgemere! You have the local town hall, a church, a downtown area, and you even have a jr. high school and Winchester High nearby! Neat!

The bad: Unlike Wedgemere, however, it is not a parking sink for the surrounding neighborhoods. Or, at least, it’s not intended to be one. Also, the connection to the 134 is just so far away relatively. I’m not quite sure how many people are making the connection between the 134 and the Commuter Rail, but it’s still annoying.

Nearby points of interest: There’s a walking trail nearby, and downtown Winchester is right here! There’s also the Middlesex Fells Reservation somewhat close by, too.

Transit connections:
Commuter Rail (Lowell)
MBTA bus (134)

Overall, it’s not a bad station. Just, it’s annoying the bus connection is a ways away, and the biggest handicap here otherwise is the Lowell Line’s shit schedule (as of writing this). The station itself is pretty good.

Rating: 7/10

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