The T is sucking lately
I’m sitting in North Station waiting for my 6:45 train to Newburyport, because half an hour is apparently no longer enough time to get from work (an 8-minute walk to Kendall Square) to South Station; hence I missed the bus north from South Station. I’ve missed a few trains/buses by now because of this. The T is decidedly sucktastic recently, as my friend Jason has noted.
I’d like to relay the following conversation with an MBTA employee, but first I’d like you to take a look at the map of Boston’s commuter rails. Note particularly the Newburyport/Rockport line: if you start at North Station and pick the rightmost north-facing branch, that’s the Rockport line (because it ends in Rockport). At Beverly Depot, that line branches off and heads to Newburyport; that’s the Newburyport line. When you get on a train, it goes to one or the other, but not both.
And now to our conversation.
Me: The sign up there says that the 6:45 train goes to ‘Newburyport/Rockport’. Which one does it go to?
MBTA employee: Both.
Me (after a pause): Both?
MBTA employee: Yeah, it goes to both.
Me (after a pause): Thank you.
I cursed, walked 20 feet away, and asked at another window. There the conversation went like this:
Me: Where does the 6:45 train to ‘Newburyport/Rockport’ go?
MBTA employee: Where are you going to?
Me: Newburyport.
MBTA employee: Just stay on the train. If you were going to Rockport, they’d tell you to get off in Salem, wait for the next train to Rockport, and get on it there. Tonight there will be a train where the sign says ‘Rockport/Newburyport’. If you got on that train, and wanted to go to Newburyport, they’d tell you to get off in Beverly and take the train to Newburyport.
Me: Thanks!
This contains several teachable moments about Boston life:
- The complete incompetence of many (most?) MBTA employees.
- The helpfulness and friendliness of many MBTA employees.
- The habit of completely internalizing an arcane set of rules and shrugging at them (if you’ve lived here a few years), or not even noticing them (if you’re a lifer).
That fails to mention the whole reason I didn’t arrive at South Station on time, namely that the T is falling apart. That also is an important part of living here.
T has been very bad on the Needham Heights commuter rail line lately as well. For the past three years, that line was excellent. But for the past month or two, nearly every train is late, overcrowded, missing cars, etc.. I do wonder what’s going on.
Comment by Adam Rosi-Kessel — January 1, 1970 @ 8:00 am
See also this, this, and this.
Comment by Adam Rosi-Kessel — January 1, 1970 @ 8:00 am
I thank my lucky stars that I can bike to work most days. I almost forgot about delays that I occasionally got on the T over the winter.
Comment by mrz — January 1, 1970 @ 8:00 am
“Shut up, Fatso! I don’t have a pot! I have a bit of a tummy, like Madonna when she did ‘Lucky Star,’ it’s not the same thing.”
::ahem::
Sorry, you triggered a Pulp Fiction moment there.
Comment by chris r — January 1, 1970 @ 8:00 am
Funnily enough I’m taking the T today because of the rain. I have some primitive rain gear for my bike, but so far the T has not been so bad that I relish riding in a driving rain over standing around listening to Gratrakasubus or whatever his name is.
Also, I don’t recall Madonna having a pot but it has been a long time.
Comment by mrz — January 1, 1970 @ 8:00 am
[...] rules that only make sense if you’re a Bostonian and can fill in the context that the rules th…. I took the T to North Station today to grab the train to Exeter, and momentarily sighed when the [...]
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