1. Sullivan Square

    1. Sullivan Square

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    Charlestown, MA

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    Sullivan Square

    2.7 (40 reviews)
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    Jeffrey H.

    Well folks, if you're a bridge person like me and have the privilege of living in the burbs (please insert sarcasm and rusty razor blades here), then you're familiar with the pleasure (hell) of commuting downtown. The commuter rail couldn't be anymore overpriced/untimely, screw you purple trains...and the parking downtown is horrendous...screw you real estate! Anyway, Sullivan Square is my recommendation for anyone coming from the north and needing to get into downtown. I use it M-F for work because it's right off 93 and the price is right. Back in the old days, the spots would fill up quick and drivers would be screwed. So screwed you might end up like me one summer while interning...parking in an old man's backyard for $10/day...not kidding. But recently, an independent operator opened a parking lot across the street for $6/day (only $2.50 more than what the MBTA charges). For me this is perfect...I drive in, park cheap, take the T from there. Plus, you're far enough away from downtown that you beat some of the traffic on 93. Oh, and why else do I love Sully? Well there's a Dunkins and a convenience store inside. I never fail to laugh whenever I see the old crazy blonde woman behind the Dunkins counter scream, "GET OUTTAH HEYAH" when a pigeon flies in through her window and perches itself on a maple frosted coffee roll. Watching a crazy woman scream and throw cups at a bird-rat? Priceless. And hey, I thoroughly enjoy stepping over to the convenience store to buy some diet cokes and pop tarts whilst I watch the scum of Slummaville spend their paychecks on scratch tickets, megabucks, and Chiclets. Long story short...coming from the north? Sullivan Sq is your best bet. I know I'll be using it until I move downtown...but I know I'll go back and visit...someone has to train the other pigeons to steal me some reduced carb bagels.

    Cristina C.

    I like the station, it's pretty alright. I've taken the T enough over the years from this location to say that it's a good stop, when you're there at the right time. In the winter, it stinks to get into Boston in the mornings. You may wait a few trains, even throughout the year.. so plan ahead on that note. Ample parking and plenty of bus service. There are a few characters over here so don't laugh or stare.. at them.. with them?

    Sullivan Station is by all regards the epitome of the MBTA: beyond practical and yet beyond dirty and beyond outdated. BEYOND PRACTICAL: Dozens of bus lines, most of them heading to the 99%-er suburbs of Everett and Malden, leave from the station's upper and lower busways and provide an easy (though not free) connection to the above-average-running Orange Line. Parking is dirt cheap compared to Downtown rates, plus there's fairly easy access to/from I-93 and thus it becomes a haven for suburbanites wishing to go to events. The Garden is a mere two subway stops away; Fenway is an easy two-seat ride more dependent on the Green Line cooperating. BEYOND DIRTY: For its mammoth size, I guess overall Sullivan has a much higher cleanliness-per-square-foot ratio than other MBTA station complexes. The biggest issue with the station is that its literally the catch basin for all the fumes, chemical runoff and general standing water that doesn't quite make it into the drainage pipes of I-93 overhead, the ultimate insult to people choosing to take public transit instead of sit in the traffic above. As you walk along the Upper Busway toward Cambridge Street there are sections of I-93 that literally SHOWER water whenever it's raining/heavily snowing. The subway platform is a sundry of graffiti along the far wall as seen from the Inbound platform and the MBTA freight division often parks its scrap cars on the railroad siding. Commuter trains, which don't stop there, blow endless amounts of diesel fumes as they growl by. It's even more fun when they park there waiting for opposite traffic. They SHOULD move the Commuter Rail stop from Malden there since it's where the Newburyport/Rockport and Haverhill Lines merge. As far as smoking--well it might as well be an open-air opium den! The official rule system-wide is that there is no smoking on (public) MBTA property. The ESTABLISHED rule is that there is no indoor smoking, which equates to the area from the doors to the top of stairs to get to the subway platform. Elsewhere is smokers' paradise! I've actually seen people light up just as they exit the doors onto the Upper Busway, in plain view of the Inspectors' booth. BEYOND OUTDATED: Like all other Orange Line stations, Sullivan is largely devoid of any architectural prowess or inviting feeling, save for local children's artwork, recreated amongst the maps and benches on the subway platform level. As far as the aforementioned busway shelter--or lack of--the MBTA really got its money's worth by having I-93 provide it. They don't need to build a roof over the entire station--just perhaps over the Upper Busway so people don't get the toxic showers. My biggest pet peeve, other than the aforementioned smoking issue, is the poor transportation engineering both within and around the station. Of course, this comes from a Massachusetts history of having the most incompetent transportation engineers in the world since the cow path days. Let's start with pedestrian traffic: There really should be a dedicated "In" and "Out" section with the faregates (formerly turnstiles), for a station that handles such a high volume of riders and with very few faregates. Rush hour becomes a huge bottleneck as people push through the faregates to the busways and people getting off of buses head to the trains. The latter of course gets screwed since they have to wait to pay their fares--or at least are supposed to. Next, navigating the Upper Busway is extremely dicey during rush hour since the average Greater Boston commuter is anything but orderly. People stand all over the Busway and *Heaven forbid* you try to get around them to walk toward the street or catch a train--or another bus further down. They really should have a corral system, which would also eliminate the "me first" people who sit all the way back at the benches until just before a bus pulls up then elbow-check everybody just to get on first--and pay in pocket change. Next, let's look at the road traffic engineering, specifically the signage As others have mentioned, the signage is RIDICULOUSLY confusing, beginning with the fact that there's enough of it to have the great Hans Monderman rolling over in his grave. It's all well-intended to ensure that buses don't crash into other buses or cars, but, like all other Greater Boston signage it's a guarded secret by the locals just WTF every sign really means are and a guessing game for everybody else. I guess the saving grace is that the signs are SO confusing that there are no crashes since most drivers just use the waiting area on Maffa Way. Long-story short, because apparently my review is so prolific, you CAN make a left turn off of Cambridge Street-Eastbound into the busway. Buses/T vehicles stay LEFT; cars stay RIGHT. You CAN'T make a U-turn in front of that driveway, however. You also CAN'T make a RIGHT out of the Busway onto Cambridge Street--all traffic must go via Maffa Way and around the Teamsters Building. Got it?

    Cue Instagram photo; a shot of the tracks from a side street, the view of the Boston skyline from the station, and track
    Shayna C.

    My go-to station for when I want to visit Boston and don't feel like shelling out an arm and a leg for the commuter rail. It's a 20 minute drive from where I live, and around $6 to park your car in their lot now. My only complaint about this location is that it's very difficult to find the entrance to get to the parking lot. There's been times where I've driven right past it, or accidentally driven into the bus lane; not good! Other than that, it's usually in-and-out for me to get in there, buy my Charlie Card, swipe in, and get on the T. Aside from that, it's located right on the edge of Boston, meaning you'll be touching down at North Station or points forward in just minutes.

    Men's bathroom need to be attended to more, if have to use this bathroom bring tissue n alcohol to whip the seats. Very very Unsanitary

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    A worker there named George Michael helped me and my friends when we were lost and put us in the right bus. Thanks!

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    Review Highlights - Sullivan Square

    When I am on the orange line I get off here to go home even though the bus to my house from Malden Center is shorter.

    Mentioned in 8 reviews

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    MBTA Kendall/MIT Station

    MBTA Kendall/MIT Station

    3.4(8 reviews)
    1.6 miKendall Square/MIT

    This is by far the nicest station on the red line stop! It looks the newest and cleanest station we…read morestop at while in Boston. They also mean it when they say this is the MIT stop. This exit puts you right on campus and just outside of the Google headquarters.

    Why can't we switch inbound or outbound within the station? Make sure you check the signs before…read moreentering! It would be very unfortunate if you were running late and needed to swipe again. Yep that's definitely happened to me. Thankfully this one isn't located in the depths underground like Porter Square requiring multiple long stair cases/escalators to resurface. Aside from that logistical annoyance, I also have a horror story about how I was trapped on the red line trying to get to Seaport for an event for well over 40 minutes. There were issues with our train and if you know the Inbound line between Kendall/MIT to Charles MGH there is a vertical incline to clear the Longfellow bridge between the stations. (We didn't make it far before trouble happened.) Unfortunately the train struggled to climb and remained stuck waiting for assistance and updates. Disturbingly every 5 minutes or so we could feel gravity sliding the car back a few feet as well. I felt bad for the train operators who announced "we apologize for this inconvenience, we will get this train moving momentarily" every few minutes. The apology while appreciated lost the impact after the first few iterations. I was extremely late for my event, which thankfully I was not presenting or speaking. The worst aspect was we were trapped. No additional cars behind us until they decided to hitch our dead train to another to propel us to the next station where of course we all poured out at Charles MGH in the overcrowded station. Ever since that incident I have been wary of any red line delays.

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    MBTA Kendall/MIT Station
    MBTA Kendall/MIT Station - Kendall Station on the T

    Kendall Station on the T

    MBTA Kendall/MIT Station - Kendall Station on the T

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    Kendall Station on the T

    Sullivan Square - busstations - Updated July 2026

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