Woburn to South Station in Boston
November 28, 2011 7:45 PM Subscribe
Boston Mefites: I need to get from Woburn/Anderson to South Station on Wednesday morning, probably close to 7:00 AM, and I will have a heavy bag. Don't really want to take the T....
I am being dropped off at Woburn/Anderson early in the morning. Rather than taking the T commuter train to North Station and then a taxi to South Station, I'm thinking of catching the Logan Express to the airport and then getting the Silver Line to South Station. What do you think?
My theory is that I can put the bag underneath the bus to the airport. But I don't know anything about the Silver Line. What terminal should I tell the driver to let me off in order to get the subway? Any idea how long either route would take at that hour? Thanks.
I am being dropped off at Woburn/Anderson early in the morning. Rather than taking the T commuter train to North Station and then a taxi to South Station, I'm thinking of catching the Logan Express to the airport and then getting the Silver Line to South Station. What do you think?
My theory is that I can put the bag underneath the bus to the airport. But I don't know anything about the Silver Line. What terminal should I tell the driver to let me off in order to get the subway? Any idea how long either route would take at that hour? Thanks.
If you do decide to go with the Silver Line, you can catch it at any terminal at Logan (important: the Silver Line is a bus that eventually travels underground, not a subway train, and you'll pick it up outside the terminal, next to the other ground transportation options).
Once you're on the bus, you don't need to tell the driver anything—the last inbound stop is South Station; it will be obvious. The Logan->South Station portion of the trip will take about half an hour.
posted by rebekah at 7:56 PM on November 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Once you're on the bus, you don't need to tell the driver anything—the last inbound stop is South Station; it will be obvious. The Logan->South Station portion of the trip will take about half an hour.
posted by rebekah at 7:56 PM on November 28, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've taken the Silver Line from South Station to the airport and it's much more luggage-friendly than the other T lines. It's made for airport travelers, with racks for heavy bags.
It does a loop around the various terminals (it's basically an articulated bus) and it's at surface level at that point. You'd have to check at the terminal for the specific location but it's probably not far from where the Express will drop you off. I bet the Express driver will know.
This actually sounds like a pretty good plan to me, and as a commuter rail commuter let me be the first to thank you for being one less person with a big bag on the morning train!
posted by bondcliff at 7:58 PM on November 28, 2011
It does a loop around the various terminals (it's basically an articulated bus) and it's at surface level at that point. You'd have to check at the terminal for the specific location but it's probably not far from where the Express will drop you off. I bet the Express driver will know.
This actually sounds like a pretty good plan to me, and as a commuter rail commuter let me be the first to thank you for being one less person with a big bag on the morning train!
posted by bondcliff at 7:58 PM on November 28, 2011
I don't really see it as significantly more comfortable than the commuter rail, and a bit more expensive.
posted by xingcat at 8:19 PM on November 28, 2011
posted by xingcat at 8:19 PM on November 28, 2011
I take the Silver Line between South Station and the airport quite frequently -- it's very convenient and luggage friendly, and it takes about 20 minutes (never been longer than half an hour for me). It loops around all the terminals, as others have said.
posted by Behemoth at 9:03 PM on November 28, 2011
posted by Behemoth at 9:03 PM on November 28, 2011
I took the Silver Line bus from Logan to South Station last Tuesday evening (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving) and it took a lot longer than I thought it would.The first bus was too full to take on any more passengers and the second one went really slow- all in all, it took me an hour to get from Logan to South Station.
My usual MO is to take the Boston Express (bus that goes to Nashua and Tyngsboro from the airport) and that usually takes less than 15 minutes to get to South Station. Since you can't buy tickets until you get to South Station, I believe that the Logan->South Station trip is free. Here is the site. If the schedule works for you at all, I think it's the best way. RE: bags, the buses are usually mostly empty and the driver is super helpful about stowing bags under the bus.
posted by bendy at 10:08 PM on November 28, 2011
My usual MO is to take the Boston Express (bus that goes to Nashua and Tyngsboro from the airport) and that usually takes less than 15 minutes to get to South Station. Since you can't buy tickets until you get to South Station, I believe that the Logan->South Station trip is free. Here is the site. If the schedule works for you at all, I think it's the best way. RE: bags, the buses are usually mostly empty and the driver is super helpful about stowing bags under the bus.
posted by bendy at 10:08 PM on November 28, 2011
Have you looked at the MBTA website? They have a trip planner you can use. They recommend taking the Boston Express from Woburn right to downtown - it drops off in front of the State Street T stop. It's not too far of a walk from there, but if you're carrying a large bag there's the 4 bus or a taxi.
If you still want to go via the airport, get on the Silver Line at Terminal E. It's the last stop before the return to downtown and most of the traffic that time of day will be outbound, towards the airport. Walk inside the terminal right where the Silver Line picks up and there's a fare machine to buy a Charlie Ticket.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:13 AM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you still want to go via the airport, get on the Silver Line at Terminal E. It's the last stop before the return to downtown and most of the traffic that time of day will be outbound, towards the airport. Walk inside the terminal right where the Silver Line picks up and there's a fare machine to buy a Charlie Ticket.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:13 AM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
What time of day are you thinking of doing this and how tight is your time schedule? Both the silver line and the bus to the airport are going to get hit with any city traffic that is going on, in particular the bus from Woburn to the airport will have to go down 93 which slows down considerably starting sometimes are early as 7am, and the silver line (as others have noted) is a bus that travels along city streets and so will hit traffic as well, which you won't going commuter rail & subway.
I don't think you are really going to gain much in the difference between bus->silver line and train-> green line -> red line. It's only one change different and both the commuter rail and the subways will be fine with luggage, as will the bus and silver line, it's not like you are likely to have to hold it on either.
That being said, the Boston Express sounds like a less difficult idea, because State St. and South Station are quite close, but you will still have to deal with traffic on that route too.
posted by katers890 at 8:08 AM on November 29, 2011
I don't think you are really going to gain much in the difference between bus->silver line and train-> green line -> red line. It's only one change different and both the commuter rail and the subways will be fine with luggage, as will the bus and silver line, it's not like you are likely to have to hold it on either.
That being said, the Boston Express sounds like a less difficult idea, because State St. and South Station are quite close, but you will still have to deal with traffic on that route too.
posted by katers890 at 8:08 AM on November 29, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Miko at 7:47 PM on November 28, 2011