• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Contribute
  • Eat
  • Wellesley Square
  • School
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Charities/Community
  • Arts
  • Camp
  • Kids
  • Environment/Sustainability
  • Events
  • About us
  • Subscribe
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • 2021 Town Election
  • Bulletin Board
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley

Train Teen critiques Wellesley’s MBTA commuter rail stations

March 23, 2018 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Miles Taylor, a high school senior from Cambridge, has earned his 15-minutes of fame by reviewing hundreds of public transportation stations across the state. WBUR and boston.com are among media outlets that have profiled Taylor and his Miles on the MBTA blog, where this young man has been documenting his efforts to ride all 1,280 miles of the T, plus a bunch of non-MBTA public transportation options.

But The Swellesley Report hasn’t really taken notice until now: Taylor this month braved the throngs of coffee-carrying Canada Goose coat-wearing train riders packing commuter rail stations at Wellesley Square, Wellesley Hills and Wellesley Farms, and shared his observations.

A post shared by theswellesleyreport (@theswellesleyreport) on Mar 14, 2018 at 7:52am PDT

Taylor tells me he’s not sure why he’s obsessed with public transportation. “I think the best reason I’ve come up with is that I never grew out of that little boy train phase. The obsession has matured over the years, of course – it’s less about the vehicles now and more about what happens behind the scenes and how it’s all planned.”

Taylor likes the look of downtown Wellesley, but he’s much less impressed with our commuter rail stations:

“For its busiest stop and its downtown, you would think Wellesley would ensure that Wellesley Square is as nice of a station as possible. A valid thought, but a wrong one…” he writes. Among other things, he hates on the “dingy” shelter on the platform and the lack of good signage in the area directing people to the train station.  Wellesley Square station gets a 3 out of 10 on his rating system.

wellesley hills train station 3 wheel bicycle
Still haven’t seen a 3-wheeler parked here at Wellesley Hills

As for Wellesley Hills station, Taylor compliments the station building/Caffe Nero and the “weird boardwalk” that lets you cross from one platform to the other, though I was surprised he didn’t mention the rare 3-wheel bicycle rack space.

Overall, he rates the station a 4 out of 10, pointing out that there’s “nary a bench” on the outbound side and criticizing the lack of space for the MWRTA bus stop (and don’t get him started on the MWRTA).

Wellesley Farms station is also a 4 out of 10 in Taylor’s book.

First off, he puzzles over the name of this place: “Well, that station name is misleading. I don’t see any farms, just a ton of huge houses!”

Welcome to Wellesley, Miles…

He likes the wooded and winding path to the station, and appreciates the Nirvana-inspired “Come as you are” graffiti in the station building. He wonders about that fake owl in the rafters of the building (we assume it’s to spook pigeons).

Wellesley Farms train station National Register of Historic Places
Who knows how this fake owl came to watch over Wellesley Farms patrons

 

As a new regular commuter rail rider myself, I’ve developed a better understanding in recent months of the good and bad of the Wellesley train stations. But reading Taylor’s reviews has inspired me to take an even closer look. So thanks for visiting Miles, and I hope you’ll get a chance to spend a bit more time outside the stations if you return.

print

Share

Filed Under: Transportation

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Linden Square, Wellesley
Fran's Flowers
Clearhaven Recovery

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]
Wellesley Square ad
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Admit Fit, Wellesley
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
The Moving-Pictures Company
image of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
covid vaccine
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click here to read our Natick Report

Natick Report

Most Read Posts

  • Newton-Wellesley Orthopedic Walk-In—no appointment needed
  • Wellesley summer camp listings 2021 — find the experience of a lifetime
  • Wellesley Business Buzz: Bank branch to close; New bank coming to town, sort of; Celebrating women-owned businesses
  • Babson to the rescue: Survey seeks to get to bottom of Wellesley Square issues
  • Town mourns Wellesley High Building Manager Tom Zinck

Events Calendar

« April 2021 » loading...
S M T W T F S
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
1
Mon 12

Open House at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

April 12 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Tue 13

STEM panel discussion

April 13 @ 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Wed 14

Fairies, Frogs, and Damsels (online program)

April 14 @ 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Thu 15

Meeting and Discussion with 4th Congressional District U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss

April 15 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Thu 15

Wellesley’s Sustainable Mobility Plan online forum

April 15 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Pages

  • Guidelines for Letters to the Editor
  • How to submit your flyer for the Community Bulletin Board page
  • Wellesley Community Bulletin Board
  • Wellesley coronavirus (COVID-19) updates
  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads
  • Wellesley, Mass., fishing spots
  • Wellesley Choral Society
  • Wellesley College Notable Alumnae
  • Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.
  • Wellesley outdoor art gallery
  • Wellesley restaurants offering take-out and delivery
  • Wellesley, Massachusetts restaurant — Amarin of Thailand

Recent Comments

  • Cynthia Kelly on Town mourns Wellesley High Building Manager Tom Zinck
  • Sue Morris on WHS senior scavenger hunt to blanket Wellesley
  • Michael Auclair on Town mourns Wellesley High Building Manager Tom Zinck
  • Kelley Downey on Wellesley Business Buzz: Bank branch to close; New bank coming to town, sort of; Celebrating women-owned businesses
  • MICHAEL GUARNIERI on Select Board makes Indigenous Peoples Day official in Wellesley

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (21)
  • Animals (387)
  • Antiques (48)
  • Art (544)
  • Beyond Wellesley (30)
  • Books (345)
  • Business (1,381)
  • Camp (1)
  • Careers/jobs (45)
  • Churches (73)
  • Clubs (211)
  • Construction (281)
  • Dump (113)
  • Education (2,918)
    • Babson College (244)
    • Bates Elementary School (14)
    • Dana Hall School (29)
    • Fiske Elementary School (6)
    • Hardy Elementary School (33)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (34)
    • MassBay (49)
    • Schofield Elementary School (20)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (1)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (9)
    • Upham Elementary School (30)
    • Wellesley College (600)
    • Wellesley High School (895)
    • Wellesley Middle School (195)
  • Embracing diversity (52)
  • Entertainment (728)
  • Environment (679)
  • Fashion (134)
  • Finance (13)
  • Fire (144)
  • Food (328)
  • Fundraising (565)
  • Gardens (137)
  • Government (422)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
  • Health (758)
    • COVID-19 (150)
  • History (360)
  • Holidays (367)
  • Houses (121)
  • Humor (45)
  • Kids (820)
  • Law (3)
  • Letters to the Editor (12)
  • Media (63)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (3)
  • Morses Pond (97)
  • Music (545)
  • Natick Report (28)
  • Neighbors (252)
  • Obituaries (62)
  • Outdoors (588)
  • Parenting (60)
  • Police (702)
    • Crime (356)
  • Politics (545)
  • Real estate (293)
  • Religion (127)
  • Restaurants (306)
  • Safety (143)
  • Scouts (1)
  • Senior citizens (111)
  • Shopping (123)
  • Sports (906)
  • STEM (106)
  • Technology (157)
  • Theatre (383)
  • Town Meeting (22)
  • Transportation (212)
  • Travel (12)
  • Uncategorized (1,212)
  • Volunteering (319)
  • Weather (168)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (259)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (5)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed

© 2021 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login