North Station: Suckier by the week
By adamg - Sat, 11/24/2007 - 7:18pm.
Lori Magno sighs:
... Yes, we really did need a bar at North Station because nothing soothes the oft-delayed Zone 6 monthly passholder like a shot of something at the station. It is AWESOME to have fans of the Celtics/Bruins/Justin Timberlake blocking all entrances to "North Station" at twice a week during commuter rush hour. The addition of a news stand that has taken up a huge amount of waiting space is a fine thing. Well, it's really rather ugly, but at least you can buy gum. Hey, BankNorth - thanks for the giant ATM thingy that required the removal of the electronic track listing sign. No more rushing into the station to find your track - but for a small fee you can withdraw cash! ...
| 
| 
Here's some salt for your wound
As part of the deal that brought us the waiting area expansion last year, the T had to permanently abandon plans to connect the underground Orange/Green area with the CR portion above.
So you can be assured of walking out in the rain, snow , heat and cold until the day in the far, far future (around 2030 maybe) when someone decides to find some way to fix it.
North Station doesn't suck
The "electronic track listing" sign wasn't removed. In fact, there are two huge new overhead signs that are much easier to read than anything the station has ever had before. The newsstand is a welcome convenience that North Station has been without for the last 12 or so years, ever since the Old Garden was torn down.
North Station signs
Yes, the new electronic signs at NS are a improvement over the old TV screens. However, they are still difficult to read as you're entering the new waiting area, especially coming in from the "east" entrance.
Unless you dodge around the columns and stop at a certain spot, you cannot read all the information about a particular train 'at a glance'. Not exactly a 'user friendly' situation, particularly when it's 5:28 pm and you're trying to figure out what track the 5:30 (name your favorite line here) train is on.
Had they placed the right side board between Tracks 3 and 4 (instead of between Tracks 5 and 6 as it is now), it would be much easier to read as you're running for the platforms to make a tight connection (which is oft the case coming from the Green or Orange Lines).
And I have a request for the people running the boards - When the train departs - please REMOVE THE INFORMATION from the board! In several instances over the past two weeks, I've noted train information displayed up to TEN minutes (that's right) after the train has departed.