Tales From The Road: Train Commute Timeline
Editor's Note: On July 19, WBJ Staff Writer Brandon Butler, who lives in Arlington, took the train from Boston to Worcester. Below is a timeline of his travels. For more from the Tales From The Road package, click here.
For reference: On a typical day I leave my apartment around 7:30 a.m., arrive by 8:30 and leave work around 5:30 to arrive home by 6:30. Here's the timeline, which I recorded in real time on my iPhone:
5:45 a.m.
Alarm clock goes off.
6:00 a.m.
I leave the apartment.
6:15 a.m.
I board the Red Line subway at Alewife Station in Cambridge.
6:50 a.m.
I'm on the MBTA commuter rail train to Worcester.
7:35 a.m.
I meet two people on the train who are willing to talk to me for my story. You can read about Myrna, who I interviewed, here. She asks me (half jokingly): Do you work for Rupert Murdoch? Guess that whole phone hacking scandal has really gotten out of control...
8:10 a.m.
I was told by multiple people that the train is habitually late, but we actually arrive at Union Station about five minutes early.
8:35 a.m.
I arrive at work, after a brief stop at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. This is about the time I normally get to work, but I left about an hour and a half earlier than I normally do.
I biked from Union Station to Dunkin Donuts and then to work. Shrewsbury Street on a bike was a little scary though: No bike lane.
Overall, this has been an interesting experiment. Here I am, at work on time ready to go. Now let's just hope I don't need a car to go cover a breaking news event today...
3:00 p.m.
I'm having a nice productive day at work, although it is difficult to not take my bike out for a ride.
4:00 p.m.
The commuter's dilemma: Do I leave work early to catch the 4:30 train or stay late for the 5:30?
4:23 p.m.
Leaving now! I hope I catch this train! Glad I have a bike and Union station is so close!
4:28 p.m.
Made it to the train in time.
4:45 p.m.
Finishing some work up using the WiFI on the train. In fact, I just filed a draft of my commuting story, which you can read here.
5:00 p.m.
Wi-Fi is unreliable.:(
5:05 p.m.
This train is not nearly as crowded as the one this morning... Why isn't Wi-Fi working?
5:15 p.m.
I see a few familiar faces from this morning's train ride.
5:20 p.m.
A LOT of people just got on in Framingham. And boy was there a traffic jam on Concord Street waiting for the train to go by. This intersection could be one of the major hurdles to increasing frequency on the Worcester line -- the train causes gridlock every time it comes through downtown Framingham. State officials are studying a solution, but there is no clear answer of what to do.
5:25 p.m.
Wi-Fi is back... I'm no longer bored. :)
5:30 p.m.
It's funny riding through Natick, because I can see the westbound traffic on the Mass Pike. One advantage to the train: no traffic jams. I wonder if I will do this again. Honestly, the worst part so far was just getting up earlier than I normally do.
5:37 p.m.
Now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, this is a long train ride...
I don't think it felt as long this morning because I was talking to people. It's amazing how conversation can make time fly! Now I understand why the train is its own little commuting club!
The Wi-Fi is very unreliable though, so I'm switching to a magazine I brought.
5:43 p.m.
Next stop is mine!
The other thing that annoys me about taking the train is the morning outbound train schedule. There is a 4 a.m. train that leaves South Station and arrives in Worcester at 5:19.
Who takes that?
The next train after that is the one I took at 6:50 arriving at 8:14 a.m. The next one that goes all the way to Worcester after that is not until 8:50 and arriving at 10:15 a.m. This must be because between Framingham and Worcester priority is given to the inbound commute.
Hopefully a deal with CSX will fix that!
5:52 p.m.
Train is stopped, waiting for another train to pass... I take back my earlier comment about no traffic jams on trains.
5:57 p.m.
This has been a relaxing train ride, but I do kind of miss my radio. Also, what if I want to make a stop and do some errands on the way home? Not going to happen on the train. Now to bike home...
7:30 p.m.
Home. For the record, I would have been home at 6:45 had I come straight back, but it's such a beautiful night that I took a long way home to get some extra exercise. Overall a good day. I'm even home to watch most of the Red Sox game on TV.
Maybe I will do it again!
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