(Editor’s note: In the midst of the Sumner Tunnel shutdown, which began July 5 and will end Aug. 31, the MBTA has advised commuters to “ditch the drive” and use the Commuter Rail, Blue Line, or ferry instead.
Using these forms of public transportation, as well as a car, four Item reporters participated in a race from Lynn to Boston. The reporters left Lynn at approximately 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning with the goal of reaching North Station by 9 a.m. Although Lynn is only 13 miles from Boston, it took our reporters an hour, on average, to get there during rush hour.)
I might be sold on the whole “ditch the drive” idea now.
After my experience aboard the Commuter Rail Tuesday morning, and having experienced my fair share of congestion in the just over a week since the Sumner Tunnel closed, I understand the appeal of leaving my beloved Prius Prime behind. I was actually stunned by the ease of the commute, with my shuttle from Lynn to Swampscott arriving two minutes early to allow plenty of time for the handful of commuters to get aboard, and then the Commuter Rail train to North Station arriving at 8:01 a.m. as scheduled.
All in all, the journey took me about 45 minutes from the moment my shuttle departed Lynn to the moment I stepped off the Commuter Rail in Boston. And, considering how my colleague Ryan Vermette fared this morning, 45 minutes really doesn’t feel too bad.
Plus, there’s a certain appeal to sitting aboard a shuttle or a train rather than behind the wheel of car. I got time to knock out today’s Wordle (I got it in four) and listen to most of the first side of Steely Dan’s 1980 classic, “Gaucho” (and the newly-released “Second Arrangement” recording).
For this exercise, I drove to the Lynn Station parking garage — the very one that officials plan to demolish (I can see why) — where I easily found a spot for just $2. Well, technically, $3. Once I returned to the garage to retrieve my car, I attempted to follow the signage instructing commuters to pay online. But, I could not for the life of me figure out how the system worked and resigned myself to waiting for a bill in the mail — an upcharge of $1.
While waiting for the shuttle to arrive, I purchased my $2.40 Commuter Rail fare for a trip from Lynn to Boston — the same price of a ride on the T in Boston and a pretty good deal all things considered. So, for less than $6 I parked my car and got to North Station in 45 minutes.
I hopped aboard the 7:43 a.m. shuttle at Lynn Station, which dropped my fellow commuters and I off at Swampscott Station just after 7:50 a.m., as expected. There, we waited roughly 10 minutes for the 8:01 a.m. train to arrive, which it did promptly at 8:01. The most difficult leg of the process was figuring out how to actually get to the Boston side of the platform, which I finally did after several attempts.
From there, it took about 25 minutes to get to North Station, with our rather crowded train stopping in Chelsea before reaching Boston. The very last stretch of the ride was a bit slow, with the train seemingly slowing to a crawl as we passed through Cambridge and into North Station; perhaps a result of the MBTA slow zones, or simply a Commuter-Rail quirk. (The T’s slow-zone map shows a restriction on the southbound side of the Orange Line tracks entering North Station.)
One potential wrench in the system: The parking lot outside Swampscott Station was full by 7:58 a.m. this morning, according to the T’s official Twitter account. Free shuttles were provided for commuters who parked at Swampscott High School instead.
While there is no perfect solution to get around with the Sumner closed, the Commuter Rail may just be the best of the bunch, with accessible parking at most stations and a quick trip into Boston with a small price tag.
With the tunnel set to remain closed for the rest of this month and all of August, I may well ditch the drive and hop on the Commuter Rail to get from Boston to Lynn (and back) every day.
It also doesn’t hurt that I won the race.
