South Station

A German magazine takes note of the MBTA's rebooted train service to Cape Cod, or, as it's called in German, Cape Cod.

Die Züge starten von der South Station in Boston und sind damit gut ans MBTA-Netz, den öffentlichen Nahverkehr der Hauptstadt, angebunden. Nach Zwischenhalt in Buzzards Bay erreicht der Zug nach zweieinhalb Stunden Hyannis auf Cape Cod.

Arturo Gossage captured South Station in its Mother's Day finest.

Copyright Arturo Gossage. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The BPL has posted more train photos by Leslie Jones, including this one of a steam engine pulling out of South Station in 1937, and another one of a train leaving North Station sometime in the 1940s:

It's hard to imagine how many miles of train tracks used to exist within Boston city limits (let alone how few will be left once Harvard gets around to ripping out the Allston yard). Here we see the train yard in front of Commonwealth Pier in South Boston, sometime shortly after World War I. Today, the pier is better known as the World Trade Center and the tracks have mostly been replaced by highway ramps, parking lots and surface roads. Nearby is Fan Pier, named for the way the train tracks there fanned out toward the water.

The Back Bay used to have its own large train yard - since replaced by the Prudential Center and the Massachusetts Turnpike:

A South Boston man getting off a bus from New York at South Station earlier this month allegedly left behind a Skittles bag filled with 3,200 Oxycodone pills when he saw a police dog sniffing luggage being taken off the bus, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office says.

Gregory Horne, 31, was arraigned on a charge of trafficking in a Class B substance following the April 3 incident, the DA's office says, adding he is free on $3,000 bail.

Prosecutors say Horne was getting ready to leave a Lucky Star bus that had pulled into South Station around 9 a.m. that day when a Transit Police officer got on to inform passengers officers and a drug-sniffing dog would be checking their luggage:

The Boston Business Journal reports Barbara's Bestsellers is talking to the company that controls commercial space in the station about re-opening in another space at the commuter-rail station.

Around 11:10 a.m. after a bomb sniffing dog pointed to a suspicious package on the fourth floor ramp. The all clear was sounded around 11:25 a.m. after it was determined it was a bag that was not explosive.

A Chinese immigrant from Flushing, NY, will spend five years in federal prison this week as a plea agreement for her role in a prostitution ring that used ads in Chinese-language newspapers to get women to work as prostitutes whose services advertised on Craigslist and in the Boston Phoenix's "Female Escort" section, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.

At South Station. Boston Magazine interviewed them.

H/t Faye.

Meghan M. spotted a pair of cats by the South Station tracks today, wonders "Why are there a bunch of homeless cats hanging around the tracks?"

Earlier:
Remember Kenmore the Kitten?

The Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board last week ordered the city of Boston to pay back some $2.4 million in property taxes levied against the company that leases parts of South Station for retail and office use, because state law forbids property tax assessments on any MBTA property, even if it's used for commercial concerns.

The payments cover taxes the company paid in 2009 and 2010.

In its ruling, the tax board said the state law in question is unambiguous: No taxes on MBTA property, period, no matter the use. The board noted the state legislature rejected requests from Mayor Tom Menino to allow taxes on T property used primarily for commercial purposes.

UPDATE: Around 7:15, a Needham train inched through Back Bay while other trains got re-routed through Dorchester.

A switch just past Back Bay apparently decided to show MBTA officials what it thought of their idea to delay needed maintenance this evening, so now commuters get to enjoy the culinary offerings of South Station, or the two Dunkin' Donuts at Back Bay.

As commuters sat on unmoving trains, the T was endearing itself to the ones on Twitter with:

#MBTA GM Scott addresses @WalkBoston's Annual Celebration on growing all modes of transit together #choosegrowth

In addition to the Lowell guy charged with kicking a woman in the throat at Downtown Crossing, Transit Police report arresting two young men for whom the lure of the big city proved too enticing yesterday:

At approximately 10:22 pm Transit Police officers from Area 1 were at South Station MBTA Commuter Rail assisting and monitoring crowds who had attended the Saint Patrick's Day Parade when they were alerted to two males, later identified as Mathew Heney, 22, of East Wareham and John Stackable, 21, of Worcester, engaged in a fist fight with one another. Upon arrival of officers they observed a large crowd gathered around the two combatants just outside the men's restroom. Officers intervened and restored peace. Both subjects were placed under arrest for Affray and Disorderly Conduct and transported to TPD HQ for the booking process. They are expected to be arraigned sometime today in Boston Municipal Court.

Innocent, etc.

This time, the rail was between South Station and Broadway, shortly before 1 p.m., and, of course, its impact was felt all up and down the Red Line.

Mykah Murphy tweeted from Park Street:

MBTA workers shouting at one another, no Ashmont/Braintree bound trains leaving Park station. No trains on Alewife tracks.

Christine added:

The best is they are telling us to take the green and orange lines instead...that makes sense.

The past three months have seen a series of cracked rails on the Red Line.

Transit Police report a 25-year-old man from New York got down onto the inbound Red Line tracks at South Station around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday and was hit and killed by a train.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident, such as trying to determine why the man "walked into the pit area."

A time-conscious citizen complains about a Quincy Patriot Ledger honor box outside South Station that has gone unfilled for three years now:

Typical graffiti and stickers creates an eyesore.

Sven Heistad was amazed how empty Comm. Ave. in the Back Bay was this afternoon.

Empty Comm. Ave. in Allston. Copyright Photographynatalia.

Yesterday's troublesome Green Line junction box, covered in foam. Photo by BFD.

No cable fires (so far) on the Green Line this morning, but delays caused by dying trolleys. Meanwhile, on the Red Line, one train, and its riders, wheezed into South Station around 6:45 a.m. Fatty tweets:

My train smells like it's on fire. ...

My train WAS on fire. It is no longer my train. We are in a smoke cloud at South Station because the brakes have been on since Dorchester.

I'm going to start slow chanting "refund" as soon as the smoke clears and I can breathe again.

A bus pulled into the South Station terminal this morning with a man who expired on his journey.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports the Vermont resident, 78, got on a bus in Lebanon, NH at 7:25 a.m. for the trip to Boston. Somebody noticed he was unresponsive around 10 a.m. in Chinatown, as the bus neared South Station, the DA's office says. There were no signs of trauma or foul play, but the investigation continues.

This is the second time in less than two years that somebody on a bus from New Hampshire has wound up dead at South Station.

The T is alerting inbound riders that there's plenty of Orange Line service at Ruggles, should they wish to get off the train there.

Peter Dunn, who last year gave us a subway map based on estimated travel times, has done it again with a time-based commuter-rail map.

Since commuters probably already know their schedules, the diagram is potentially more useful to new riders. Car commuters can see where they might save time by taking the train. Newcomers looking for a place to move in the region can quickly compare how much of their day they'd spend commuting from various stations. (If you choose the home another six minutes away, that's an extra hour a week you'll spend getting to and from work.)

Commuter-rail lines that share the Northeast Corridor with Amtrak (Providence, Franklin and Needham) are reporting delays thanks to an overhead Amtrak wire that came down somewhere between Forest Hills and downtown.

Utile reports on an interesting proposal by a couple of Yale architecture students: Drain Fort Point Channel south of Summer Street and put the tracks underground there - under a brand-new South Station:

The benefit is a fully subterranean train station, allowing for the redevelopment of both the existing and new track areas for urban development that can knit the Leather District directly to the loft buildings in the Fort Point District.

Just as importantly, the new South Station headhouse will provide views north across Fort Point Channel and Boston Harbor to visitors first arriving in Boston. Only the train station in Venice provides a comparatively dramatic view. Commuters and visitors would find water taxis and ferries directly across Summer Street. Importantly, the new tracks and station could be built while the existing station is fully operational. With only a flip of a switch, trains could be directed into the new station, freeing up the old facility for demolition - except for the historic headhouse, which would be saved as part of a redevelopment plan.

Sounds cool, although, of course, there are some pesky details that would need some attention, beyond the whole idea of building a dam at Summer Street: Gillette uses vast amounts of water from Fort Point Channel at World Shaving Headquarters (although presumably that's why God gave us pipes) and part of the Ted Williams Tunnel goes right under the channel.

Bonus fun fact: There used to be a looped train tunnel under South Station, but it was only used once and later part of it became a bowling alley.

MBTA Transit Police ordered a shutdown of the South Station bus terminal when a janitor found a strange item in the trash in the men's room. Alert New England reports it was a stolen coin box from a pay phone.

Earlier:
Riverside station shut due to suspicious coffee maker.

Sarah M. tweets:

Little kid asks dad why toy train at South Station isn't moving, "because it's just like real life."