We took an MBTA train from the WORST STATION 

Thank you for not mispronouncing Wusstah as "War-chester" 😂

Hey TRA! As a European, I gotta say your videos are quite amazing and make me learn a lot about public transport in the USA, which is often underdiscussed.

For about three years I had an apartment three blocks from the Boston Landing station. One night when I was returning from a concert downtown on the train, even though I informed the conductor that I was getting off at Boston Landing (it is a flag stop late at night), he got distracted and never informed the engineer. We get to Boston Landing, we don't stop, and then I run through the train and find the conductor yelling "you skipped my stop." After first suggesting that I take the train to Wellesley where I could transfer to an inbound train, I got him to stop the train for me at the crappy Newtonville station (even more crappy at night), and I had to get a taxi home. The next day I called the MBTA to complain, and to my surprise, they pulled up the GPS record of the train the night before, confirmed the train never stopped at Boston Landing, and sent me a check for my cab fare. So all in all, it ended alright.

Thanks for the ride, Thom! That's the former Boston and Albany main line. It was built with handsome Richardsonian Romanesque stations (similar to the surviving Newton Centre Green Line station, the former B&A Highland Branch to Riverside). All were torn down when the Mass Pike was extended into Boston. You can tell the highway powers-that-were assumed no one would ride the train anymore when they had a six-lane (toll) road adjacent. Hence those ridiculous one-side-only platforms. But as others have commented here, past misdeeds are to be corrected with new stations planned (with in-and-outbound platforms) at all three Newton stops on the Wuh'-ster line... at least you didn't pronounce it "War'-cester". 😉

5:23 Lake Shore Limited also picks up passengers at Back Bay headed to Chicago! I took that train a year ago to move to nearby Providence from Chicago!

Interestingly enough, The Boston Globe published an article in 2014 which provided an estimate that the cost per minute of driving was $.34/minute. Taking inflation into account, that's probably more like $.43/minute today. Your trip cost $.325/minute, so not too shabby.

You are my favorite train RU-vidr.

Correction: the newest Metra station actually opened in 2018, not 2006. However, this station is only served 3x a day in each direction. So still bad.

Politicians have really been pushing MBTA electrification as of recent, with legislation being proposed for initial electrification by 2024

Great video! Love hearing your opinion on the MBTA commuter rail. I think that they could totally electrify the lines on the NEC. For the other lines they could using the Semins ario style trains.

I live in CT. I use the Hartford line each month. Metro North too. Part of the reason passenger railroads are using old equipment is because the nation does not value trains they way they value automobiles. The entire line from NY to Boston needs to be double tracked. So does the Hartford line (which is almost complete). This way bottle necks are eliminated and people can travel the same way they used to 100 years ago.

there have been some worse stations such as hastings on the fitchburg line, but it closed in 2020 it was basically a ballast parking lot that could fit at most 3 cars and the station itself had no platform and could accommodate less than one car

I absolutely despise the Greenwood station on the Haverhill line. It’s a flag stop, inaccessible, you get a tiny hut to stay in, there’s a information board which often displays incorrect information, the North Shore often only has one double decker car on every train set, and the rail joints make it a bumpy ride because of the outdated infrastructure.

A most enjoyable ride ! Shame about the condition and location of the stations, but I do like the MPI locomotives that power most of the trains on that route !

2:41 However, the result is we have the epic Star Market over I-90, which is absolutely amazing! And a note on Newtonville, that is not the only station that looks like that. I also have been to Auburndale (same line) and looks the exact same.

I'm surprised by how basic Newtonville looks, considering the relatively frequent service. In a previous comment I mentioned Te Huia, that Hamilton to Auckland service. And for comparison, it calls at Rotokauri station (near a huge shopping centre). Rotokauri was built from scratch and specifically for Te Huia (although excursions sometimes call there as well). The station has an island platform plus elevators to the overbridge and a departure screen, yet it only sees two trains a day in each direction (not counting freight). Thinking back to MBTA, you get the Providence/Stoughton line in Train Sim World 3, and I find it amusingly ironic that the northern end of that route is Boston South. Unfortunately you get a limited amount of rolling stock with that pack; just the rebuilt F40PH-3C and BTC-3 / CTC-3 coaches.

Clearly, you've never seen what North Wilmington station looks like! Haha. It's basically a concrete slab with an MBTA sign and a small bus shelter with a bench that's always got loose legs.

Another enjoyable video showing us a train system we would have never have known about.

Very nice Thom!

Thank you, TRA channel, for your efforts and passion producing these videos! I hold hope that a secondary function off efforts like yours will be an even greater consciousness of the potential good passenger rail brings to society; for now I know I am but one of many "simply enjoying the ride" -- thank you, Thom and family!

Harrison here! I appreciated the shoutout!

Go to the Newtonville Station Wikipedia... The current MBTA shack is a sick JOKE of what used to be there... There were three tracks and the depot stood where the freeway is now... There was an adjacent platform on the other side (Washington street) of the Tracks... Ther remains are clearly seen on Google Sattelite and in your video. Good coverage and good points. I agree the line should be electrified, but it would make perfect sense the NEC line to Rhode Island would receive EMU's first and assign the coaches and diesels to other lines that need the additional equipment.

Every 45 minutes frequent. It's comparable to some cities elsewhere in the world Bristol, GB (hourly on some lines) and Plymouth, GB (hourly or two hourly) on local routes. Although you would expect a large national city like Boston to have a higher frequency. As for the station it's very typical of smaller city halts in GB and France. Out of interest how close is the Green Line light rail to this station? Where I live the Department for Transport, Plymouth City Council, Devon County Council and Karyans rag Kernow (the latter three being the transport authorities) argue that with a frequent bus service (every 15 minutes or better) that it isn't worth upgrading the line or frequency of the rail service. I wonder if MBTA uses the same principle that the Green Line Light Rail would take the bulk of the traffic. I always love to hear North Americans pronounce Worcester. Here in the West of England it would definitely be pronounced Wussster

The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in 1901 as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox' home ballpark has been Fenway Park since 1912. The "Red Sox" name was chosen by the team owner, John I. Taylor, c. 1908, following the lead of previous teams that had been known as the "Boston Red Stockings," including the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves). The team has won nine World Series championships, tied for the third-most of any MLB team, and has played in 13 World Series. Their most recent World Series appearance and win was in 2018. In addition, they won the 1904 American League pennant, but were not able to defend their 1903 World Series championship when the New York Giants refused to participate in the 1904 World Series. The Red Sox were a dominant team in the new league, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903 and winning four more championships by 1918. However, they then went into one of the longest championship droughts in baseball history, dubbed the "Curse of the Bambino" after its alleged inception due to the Red Sox' sale of star player Babe Ruth to the rival New York Yankees two years after their World Championship in 1918. The Sox endured an 86-year wait before the team's sixth World Championship in 2004. The team's history during that period was punctuated with some of the most memorable moments in World Series history, including Enos Slaughter's "mad dash" in 1946, the "Impossible Dream" of 1967, Carlton Fisk's home run in 1975, and Bill Buckner's error in 1986. Following their victory in the 2018 World Series, they became the first team to win four World Series trophies in the 21st century, with championships in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018. The team's history has also been marked by the team's intense rivalry with the New York Yankees, arguably the fiercest and most historic in North American professional sports. The Red Sox are owned by Fenway Sports Group, which also owns Liverpool F.C. of the Premier League in England, the National Hockey League's Pittsburgh Penguins, and partially owns RFK Racing of the NASCAR Cup Series. They are consistently one of the top MLB teams in average road attendance, while the small capacity of Fenway Park prevents them from leading in overall attendance. From May 15, 2003, to April 10, 2013, the Red Sox sold out every home game-a total of 820 games (794 regular season) for a major professional sports record. Both Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and The Standells' "Dirty Water" have become anthems for the Red Sox. As of the end of the 2022 season, the franchise's all-time regular-season record is 9,796-9,098 (.518).

Wow! You have a Wooster too?! That's awesome! We don't have an orange line though...

For the MBTA they might as well Modernize this station by having French National Railways SNCF help them to do it however you're left with a 55cm 21in platform while the train doors are 121 cm 48in above the rails. on the other hand if Dutch Prorail engineers were to help MBTA modernize the station it should have High level platforms at 76cm 30in almost close to the 121cm train doors above the rail with elevators for disabled riders. Option 2 for Modernization is a mini High level platform on the one end to allow wheelchair riders to board here to Boston South Station.

Thank you for this video. I love Boston and really miss it. I lived 30 some miles away in North Attleborough. I’ve taken the MTA ( MBTA) from Attleboro to South Station quite a few times. I’ll be flying from Tampa to Boston in June to see my son and maybe I’ll take the train to Mansfield where he lives.

Newtonville (and the other 2 Newton stops) are getting upgrades such as two platforms, higher frequnecies, and high level platforms coming in the late 2020's.

Gotta say, Thom nailed the pronunciations!

As someone who lived off the MBTA green line for years and recently moved to Chicago off the red line, the comparisons are super interesting!

They're suppose to add some service on the Worcester line once the new second platform is complete, we hope. Once the new platform is complete, then 448 won't be stuck waiting for the commuter rail to depart Worcester, which delays it even more if they're not allowed to bypass the commuter enroute to Boston.

If you come back to Boston you have to listen to the Kingston Trio's song Charlie and the MBTA

We didn't take these train when we were in Boston, but good to see this if we do go ther eagain.. (*Gasp! You flew there inteast of the train? LOL )

If you thought that was bad, Hastings was worse before its closure in 2020, as it was just a gravel patch!

I love the purple on the MBTA commuter rail! Very different from metra's grey rail cars! Lol

Great steady hand nice pics ...also goes to patriots Gillette stadium

Nice video. Do all trains in Newtonville stop at that platform? Because I don't see a platform for the other direction.

Where were you to get a nice shot of that Amtrak train at about the 1 minute mark?

Thanks again John in Chicago

How do they operate the doors on those single level coaches?

The passenger cars remind me very much of the South Shore cars on the line from Chicago to South Bend. Have you done a video on that line?

This is also the only MBTA commuter rail trip I've taken for the same exact reason, and I've lived here for 6 years. The commuter rail is hard to use!

Yow! I thought some of the Metra stations were "basic", but check out debris piled high on the platform at 3:45. Thanks for the fine video. I saw the note about accessibility. What do they do for wheelchair users?

Is there an outbound platform at Newtonville station or only a Boston bound platform?

Newtonville indirectly caused the death of a passenger as the conductor chose to not hold the train at the station and await help from the nearby fire station for a passenger having a heart attack…it only remains because the city refuses to allow it to be closed and frankly at that price for a ticket i’d rather get the bus upstairs to Watertown then transfer to the express bus to Boston or get the bus to Newton Highlands for the D branch of the Green Line

The frequencies definitely suck lol. However, the stations on the old colony lines are so much better and feel far safer. I’d definitely recommend trying out the cape flyer service!! It’s got 1 round trip per day, and has first class seating.

I was recently told that single level cars are better than double level cars because of their faster acceleration, capacity, and frequency. I used to like the idea, but now I have second thoughts for if we should continue to use bilevel cars of the line gets electrified. However, I believe that the Stadler KISS is a really good bilevel train and better than most

I can agree if your trains are awesome🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Landsdowne station used to be called yawkey station, whic is named after Yawkey way at fenway park. Yawkey way used to be called Jersey street, but, in 1977, just 1 year since Formor Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey died, the red sox decied to change the name from jersey street to Yawkey Way, the street name, remained Yawkay way, until, 2018 when the red sox decided to name the street back to its original name Jersey street, this is because the red sox think Tom Yawkey was racist, and they do not want fans worried when coming to fenway park with a street name, named after a racist person. The MBTA stop kept the name yawkey station, until the following year, when the T changed its commuter rail station from yawkey, to lansndowne, because of the street name change, landsdowne was named after landsdown street, which parllel the green monster, outside the park, and thats why Landsdowne station is called Landsdowne.

The Downeaster is actually an Amtrak train.

i want to have a haverhill video

Bro chill out wit the taking a train at the WORST TRAIN STATION bro jk ur right it is kinda the worst station

WOOOOSTAA MASS!

Wearing a mask is pointless.