# Boston South station to North Station



## guest (Mar 28, 2008)

What is the procedure of transfer from South station to North Station in Boston?

If I check-in baggage on Regionals to Boston and I have connecting train to Maine - will my baggage be transferred or I need to carry it on?


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## AlanB (Mar 28, 2008)

Other than the overnight Regional train 66/67, Regional trains don't offer checked baggage. So you won't be able to check your bags to Boston, much less to Maine. You'll have to carry on all of your bags, and remember that the limit is two per person.

As for the procedure of transfer, you have a few options. One, get off at Back Bay and catch an Orange Line train to North Station. Two, get off at either Back Bay or South Station and get a taxi. Three, catch a bus between stations.

Amtrak will not assist you in any way to get from South Station to North Station. You are on your own to do that.


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## guest (Mar 28, 2008)

AlanB said:


> Other than the overnight Regional train 66/67, Regional trains don't offer checked baggage. So you won't be able to check your bags to Boston, much less to Maine. You'll have to carry on all of your bags, and remember that the limit is two per person.
> As for the procedure of transfer, you have a few options. One, get off at Back Bay and catch an Orange Line train to North Station. Two, get off at either Back Bay or South Station and get a taxi. Three, catch a bus between stations.
> 
> Amtrak will not assist you in any way to get from South Station to North Station. You are on your own to do that.


What is the name of the bus?

Is there a place on Regionals where I could place my bags?


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## the_traveler (Mar 28, 2008)

guest said:


> What is the name of the bus?
> Is there a place on Regionals where I could place my bags?


It is the regular city bus.

If you take the "T" (subway) from South Station to North Station, I also believe that there are a few transfers between lines. However, from Back Bay, it is all on the Orange Line.

You can place your bags in the overhead rack above your seat. There is also a place at the end of the car to store bigger bags.


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## Joel N. Weber II (Mar 28, 2008)

If you go to http://www.mbta.com, there's a trip planning tool that you may find helpful.

If you're arriving without checked luggage, I would think transfering via Back Bay and the Orange Line would probably be easier than taking a bus, though an MBTA bus would save some tiny amount of money (less than $1) vs taking the subway. The subway probably runs more frequently and more reliably than a bus.

If you have a lot of time and really want to see South Station, you could also take the Red Line from South Station and transfer to either the Orange Line (at Downtown Crossing) or the Green Line (at Park Street), though some of the northbound trains at Park Street probably won't continue all the way to North Station. I would be kind of surprised if there's a bus that runs frequently enough and on a reliable enough schedule for the bus to be faster than taking two subway trains, and transfering from one subway train to another is free.

Whether you take a bus or the subway, you get a discount if you use a contactless CharlieCard (not to be confused with the magnetic stripe CharlieTicket). The bus fareboxes will take exact change (or can issue a CharlieTicket with any change if you put in dollar bills), and the subway vending machines will issue a CharlieTicket if you don't have anything, but the best approach is to load a CharlieCard with enough value at a subway station vending machine. (I think there are also CharlieTicket vending machines in the large hall at South Station next to the commuter rail tracks, because that's how they want you to buy commuter rail tickets these days.) I'm not sure if there's any reliable way for someone coming from out of town to get a CharlieCard, but there usually is an MBTA employee at the fare gates at each subway station, and if you see such an employee it doesn't hurt to ask if they have a CharlieCard they can give you (there shouldn't be any charge to get one).


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## Crescent ATN & TCL (Mar 28, 2008)

Joel N. Weber II said:


> If you go to http://www.mbta.com, there's a trip planning tool that you may find helpful.
> If you're arriving without checked luggage, I would think transferring via Back Bay and the Orange Line would probably be easier than taking a bus, though an MBTA bus would save some tiny amount of money (less than $1) vs taking the subway. The subway probably runs more frequently and more reliably than a bus.
> 
> If you have a lot of time and really want to see South Station, you could also take the Red Line from South Station and transfer to either the Orange Line (at Downtown Crossing) or the Green Line (at Park Street), though some of the northbound trains at Park Street probably won't continue all the way to North Station. I would be kind of surprised if there's a bus that runs frequently enough and on a reliable enough schedule for the bus to be faster than taking two subway trains, and transferring from one subway train to another is free.
> ...


I spent a week in Boston in July, All you have to do is use one of the automatic ticketing machines in Back Bay or South Station, you will get a Charlie Card/Ticket with the amount you specify. I don't really recommend the busses they are very slow and tend to have circuitous routes. We basically used the subway and commuter rail to go every where we went. The subway is very reliable, fast an frequent. When the Down-Easter first started running they used to give free connections between Back Bay and North. If you talk to someone in the information window at Back Bay, which should be directly on your left as you exit the stairs, you might be able to get a free connection by subway if you show them your ticket for the Down-easter and your for the Regional/Acela, they no longer post this on their site or schedule so they may have stopped giving free transfers. Unless you want to pay $10-15 dollars for a cab between the stations the orange line transfer from Back Bay to North Station is your best option.


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## guest (Mar 28, 2008)

Crescent ATN & TCL said:


> Joel N. Weber II said:
> 
> 
> > If you go to http://www.mbta.com, there's a trip planning tool that you may find helpful.
> ...


Well, too much hassle for us. Now I am thinking about driving by rental car to Boston and then taking Downeaster. Can I park my car at North Station while picking up tickets and checking in the baggage?

Does it worth to see South Station anyway?


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## J-1 3235 (Mar 28, 2008)

guest said:


> Crescent ATN & TCL said:
> 
> 
> > Joel N. Weber II said:
> ...


Guest,

The description of what to do takes more time to read than to actually do...

South Station is nice to see, of course the station isn't as large as it once was. As far as parking at North Station, there is a garage under the station, but I'm fairly sure it would be quite expensive to leave your car there for more than a day. You may find on-street metered parking to drop off someone with luggage, but you cannot leave the car there for too long.

I'd consider taking the regional to BBY or BOS; when you pickup the tickets, pickup the Downeaster tickets, too. The subway transfer is really quite easy. Living near Boston, I've walked between BOS and BON many times, although not on a rainy day!

Mike


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## Joel N. Weber II (Mar 28, 2008)

Crescent ATN & TCL said:


> I spent a week in Boston in July, All you have to do is use one of the automatic ticketing machines in Back Bay or South Station, you will get a Charlie Card/Ticket with the amount you specify. I don't really recommend the busses they are very slow and tend to have circuitous routes. We basically used the subway and commuter rail to go every where we went. The subway is very reliable, fast an frequent. When the Down-Easter first started running they used to give free connections between Back Bay and North. If you talk to someone in the information window at Back Bay, which should be directly on your left as you exit the stairs, you might be able to get a free connection by subway if you show them your ticket for the Down-easter and your for the Regional/Acela, they no longer post this on their site or schedule so they may have stopped giving free transfers. Unless you want to pay $10-15 dollars for a cab between the stations the orange line transfer from Back Bay to North Station is your best option.


If you walk up to a vending machine with nothing but cash, it will give you a magnetic CharlieTicket at the (slightly) higher rate.

There are actually a number of cases where a bus offers a more direct route than the subway system, but because of the time you spend waiting for the bus, taking the subway may be preferable.


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## Joel N. Weber II (Mar 28, 2008)

guest said:


> Well, too much hassle for us. Now I am thinking about driving by rental car to Boston and then taking Downeaster. Can I park my car at North Station while picking up tickets and checking in the baggage?


I would think that driving through downtown Boston to find parking by North Station would probably be far more hassle than taking the Orange Line from Back Bay to North Station.

However, if you really want to park a car somewhere and catch the Downeaster, I would think that Woburn would likely have cheaper parking and generally be easier to drive to.

The printed timetable seems to indicate that neither Woburn nor North Station offers checked baggage service.


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## AlanB (Mar 28, 2008)

Crescent ATN & TCL said:


> When the Down-Easter first started running they used to give free connections between Back Bay and North. If you talk to someone in the information window at Back Bay, which should be directly on your left as you exit the stairs, you might be able to get a free connection by subway if you show them your ticket for the Down-easter and your for the Regional/Acela, they no longer post this on their site or schedule so they may have stopped giving free transfers. Unless you want to pay $10-15 dollars for a cab between the stations the orange line transfer from Back Bay to North Station is your best option.


When the Downeaster first started running, Amtrak didn't even acknowledge the fact that one could transfer from North Station to South Station. In fact, one couldn't even book a continuous trip between the Downeaster and any other Amtrak train. Now at least one can do that and Amtrak actually prints out a fake ticket that gives you suggestions on how to get from North to South, or vice versa.

However, I'm not aware of the MBTA ever giving out free rides to Amtrak passengers and I can't imagine why they would want to either. Amtrak certainly never gave out free rides on the T.


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## Anthony (Mar 30, 2008)

The Orange Line transfer at Back Bay to North Station isn't really very complicated. It will cost you about $2 per person and you won't even have to leave the Back Bay station in order to make the connection. At North Station, you leave the subway, cross the street and walk into the TD Banknorth Arena, which doubles as the Downeaster train station.


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## AlanB (Mar 30, 2008)

Anthony said:


> At North Station, you leave the subway, cross the street and walk into the TD Banknorth Arena, which doubles as the Downeaster train station.


They've completed the construction at Subway's North Station. One no longer needs to cross the road above ground. You can now exit the station already on the other side of the road, just steps away from the entrance to the commuter rail North Station.


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## Anthony (Apr 1, 2008)

AlanB said:


> Anthony said:
> 
> 
> > At North Station, you leave the subway, cross the street and walk into the TD Banknorth Arena, which doubles as the Downeaster train station.
> ...



That's excellent! You can tell it's been over a year since I've taken the Downeaster. :lol:


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