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(09/30/22 4:01am)
Welcome back to Tales from the T! Every other week, I’ll be diving into a story about the history and future of the T and other transportation around Boston. I get to indulge in my pathological obsession with trains and you … I don’t know, might learn something interesting along the way, I guess.
(10/14/22 4:01am)
Today, we’ll be looking at some of the more interesting station names on the T. While most stations are named for streets, local landmarks or influential figures (i.e. dead white men), many stations have rather unique names that reveal some history of the city around us.
(12/02/22 5:01am)
In today’s column I’m going to stretch the limits of what can be considered Boston transit by talking about intercity trains. That’s right. Today we’re talking about the national passenger rail operator, Amtrak.
(12/05/22 5:01am)
Another semester of sleep deprivation, missed deadlines and existential dread about the future later, I am yet again writing my last column. So for this column, I’ll talk about my favorite station on the T. Today, we’re talking about … Ruggles?
(11/14/22 5:01am)
Two weeks ago, the MBTA released a revised draft of its Bus Network Redesign, an ambitious plan to design a better bus network for Boston with improved coverage, frequency, equity and connectivity. The T’s end goal is to run more buses, more frequently, serving more people (particularly low-income populations most reliant on transit) and serving more destinations that riders want.
(10/28/22 4:01am)
There’s a fair chance you’ve never ridden the Blue Line. Linking the West End to Winthrop and Wonderland, it’s the shortest and least busy of the MBTA’s four subway lines. But even for its size, it’s got an interesting backstory that could teach us some lessons on the future of our transportation network.
(12/14/21 6:01am)
For my last column, we’ll talk about the station nearest and (questionably) dearest to all of us: Davis Square. Today, it’s the most convenient place to catch a train to downtown (at least before the GLX opens in 2050). But before there was the Red Line, you could catch other trains at Davis: luxury sleeper trains, mile-long freight trains and even Green Line trains. Let’s talk about these long gone trains of Davis Square.
(12/07/21 2:51pm)
In my last column, I talked about the Silver Line, the black sheep of the T. To recap: The Silver Line was designed as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) — buses providing subway-like service using several key design features, including high-capacity stations and dedicated lanes. What we got instead was a haphazard cocktail of overpriced construction, slow speeds and broken promises, an embarrassment of a BRT system. But that would change in 2018, when the SL3 line opened.
(11/30/21 5:01am)
Today’s topic is a laughable excuse of a project, a dumping ground of wasted potential and crushed dreams, a mere shadow of what it should have been. No, not you, the Silver Line. The Silver Line was envisioned as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a transit mode that uses design features like off-board fare payment and dedicated bus lanes to provide subway-like service using buses. BRT has been successfully built worldwide in cities like Guangzhou, Bogota and Albuquerque. It has not been successfully built here in Boston.
(11/16/21 5:01am)
You might know that Boston has the oldest subway system in North America, with the Green Line’s central section dating back to 1897. But did you also know that part of the Red Line runs over the oldest commercial railway in the United States, dating back to 1826? Today, let’s discuss the Red Line’s Braintree branch and its evolution from horse-drawn wagonway to commuter superhighway.
(11/09/21 5:01am)
Today we’ll be exploring the Green Line’s D branch. The D, running from Kenmore to Riverside, has one of the most unique, convoluted histories of all the T’s lines, evolving from an intercity steam railroad into a modern subway line.
(11/02/21 4:01am)
In my previous column, we discussed the proposed West Station, a transit hub designed to accommodate a new Indigo Line, a brand-new system of rail lines slated to open in 2024. Spoiler alert: It won’t. But the story of the Indigo Line and its demise is a fascinating (if infuriating) one, and one with consequences for the entire city.
(10/12/21 4:01am)
Anyone who’s traveled to the neighborhood of Allston knows how difficult it can be, requiring a trek from the Green Line, a bus ride through traffic or a drive along twisting highways. But a massive new project is promising to change all this by bringing a frequent rail service from South Station, Worcester and Kendall Square to a new West Station in Allston, alongside a brand-new highway and urban neighborhood on former industrial land. What’s the story behind this megaproject?
(10/05/21 4:01am)
The T, greater Boston’s transit system, is one of the quickest, cheapest ways to get around the city — but it can certainly be confusing for first-time riders. Maybe you’re from the suburbs and are too used to driving everywhere. Or maybe you’re from outside the U.S. and are too used to trains that actually run logically. In any case, here’s a brief, by no means comprehensive, guide on how to use the T.
(09/28/21 4:05am)
Welcome to Tales from the T part 2: Electric Boogaloo! Each week we’ll be diving into a story about the T and other forms of Boston transportation. Who knows, some of them might even be interesting.
(05/11/21 4:01am)
I think by now it’s time to address the elephant in the station — and I don’t mean Jumbo’s flattened corpse. Let’s talk about the Green Line Extension, or GLX: What is its history, what will it bring, why did we spend $2 million to name one station, I mean seriously, who on Earth thought that was a good idea?
(04/22/21 6:01am)
It occurred to me last week that, for all the time I've spent talking about Boston’s streetcar system, I've never provided any overall background on it. Not the first time I’ve jumped into something without adequately preparing beforehand (like when I declared my major), but regardless, Boston’s streetcars have a fascinating history and legacy that deserve a look in their own right.
(04/15/21 5:31am)
The Red Line currently has the distinction of running both the newest and some of the oldest trains on the MBTA. The newest trains entered service in December 2020, while the oldest entered service in 1945. That’s not a typo — these trains began running during World War II, and were built according to an even older Depression-era design. But you won’t be able to catch these trains from Davis. (You won’t be able to catch the new trains either — they couldn’t last three months in service before being withdrawn — but that’s a different story.) Instead, you’ll have to take the Red Line down to Ashmont for a transfer to the Mattapan trolley.
(04/08/21 4:31am)
What do CharlieCards,burlesque and the second coming of Christ have in common? They’re all involved in the history of the Government Center station. Apologies if you expected a more interesting answer; anyways, let’s talk about trains. In this week’s column: Government Center, Charlie's backstory and the monstrosity that is Boston City Hall.
(03/04/21 6:31am)
The Green Line Extension is scheduled to finally open in December. Once in service, it will bring accessible, convenient rapid transit to much of Medford and Somerville and provide a slightly more convenient ride for SMFA students. And most importantly (for this column), it will restore rail service to Tufts after over four decades.