Charles/MGH — Local services in Boston

This station is typical MassDOT construction rehab of spending a lot of time and lot of money for very modest improvements. From an ADA standpoint, for sure, the station needed to made more accessible, but, in the process, they ELIMINATED the direct overpass connection from the south side of the Longfellow Bridge to the south side of the station, meaning that, whether on foot, bike, roller blade or mobility unit, you have to do a quadruple--QUADRUPLE!--cross to get to/from the bridge and the station: cross the Storrow Drive offramp; cross the lead to Charles St Southbound, cross the lead to Cambridge St... to an island; cross the lead to Cambridge St AGAIN. How is that MORE efficient?!

The east end of the station is just as dumb: it has the same exit-only style like the west end of Massachusetts Ave Station on the Orange Line--did nobody at MassDOT think that people might want to gasp get INTO the station that way?! It's a frequent exit used by the hospital employees to leave the station and then dart across Cambridge St rather than all herd at the official underpass crossing on the west side of the station--why not make the doors bidirectional and have faregates in the back as well?! Because that requires thought. THOUGHT.

Oooo, shiny glass on the platform level though--which is functionally useless because it's where the escalators are as opposed to what would make more sense--put glass where people would actually want to look out and enjoy the view where the PLATFORMS...

This is a nice T station conveniently located near the Massachusetts Genera Hospital and Beacon Hill. It’s pretty large and located at a busy intersection, so it can be a little intimidating crossing the street into Beacon Hill. The station itself has a platform on the second floor because it’s connected to the red line, which goes on an above ground bridge above the Charles River right after this station. From here, you can take the red line to Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, Downtown Crossing, South Station, Quincy, and Braintree. Unfortunately, red line trains can’t travel faster than 10 mph due to the age of their train tracks, so journeys in it are quite slow. I gave this station five stars because it’s a nice station with good connections. The platform here is outdoors but has a roof, which probably isn’t that nice...

Entrance and ticketing are at the ground level, train platform is above ground. Amenities include escalators and a help box for those who need the latest train info or assistance. No restroom. The station provides some insulation from the elements but you won’t be 100% comfy. Still, heaps better than any similar station in our decrepit subway system in NYC.

A concern about the station design: As you descend from the train platform, you’ll see an exit-only door, which leads out to a busy two-way street with no pedestrian lanes to provide safe access to the sidewalks. I saw people jaywalking at their own risk. The safer exit is via the main entrance, where, upon exit, there are stop lights and...