Porter Square MBTA Station – Red Line

I like the ease of reaching the subway platform from street level. There’s not as much walking when compared to the Alewife station and this station is still close enough to the end of the Red Line such that there are usually still seats on the train. The drawback when compared to Alewife are the lack of parking and the small bus shelters.

Loved the ease and quickness of Boston’s public transportation, with the buses and subways using same ticket. This particular subway had super long escalators which made me feel a little lightheaded as I walked up while it was moving. There are also some bronzed gloves along the rails, kind of weird. I think it’s supposed to represent all the workers making the subway.

Are they trying to make up for the fact that it’s so far underground with the gloves? It works for me! I don’t know what it is about them, but I love them.
You’ll always get a seat, so that’s good too.

Want to star in your very own version of Journey to the Center of the Earth? Well, you’ve found your T station.
Thanks to a tourist, one of my friends once fell down the larger escalator, which predictably earned her an ambulance ride. Be careful. Oh, and tourists? STAND RIGHT WALK LEFT. Thank you. Welcome to Boston.
MBTA, please fix the escalators — it seems like one or more are always broken. And please see about that waterfall that always seems to be appearing next to the outbound tracks — it’s a little concerning.

Ok, so I make my way up one of the longest escalators on the planet to see the shorter escalator at the top is broken down again! Why oh why does it have to break down at the end of a long long day, but it works on the days I have enough energy to practically run up the longer escalator!
Of course, now after 15 years of this, there are new elevators, but the one that goes to the top stays up there for the longest time! Why the heck is it up there that long? I gave up the other night and walked up those stupid steps! Ghrrrrr
It deserves 2 stars for the multitudinous escalator breakdowns over the years but I’ll forget all about that, and give it 4 stars because the subway got me to where I needed to go for years, and they now have the 2 new elevators at the bottom so I don’t have to take that never-​ending longest escalator in the entire world!

The layers of the earth are as follows:
1) where civilization takes place
2) Hades
3) Porter Square subway tunnel
That’s right, you’ll bypass the depths of hell on your escalator ride (or, if you’re really a masochist, while taking the stairs) to catch the trains at Porter.
But hey, at least it’s not the Green Line.

This red line stop smells more like pee than the Harvard station but less like pee than Central.
Walking up and down the 9 gazillion stairs from street level to train level is great for my glutes but bad for my «show-​up-​places-​without-​looking-​super sweaty» rule.
You win some you lose some.

I can walk down the long escalator in 70 steps.
I can walk up the long escalator in 80 steps.
Where did the 10 other steps go?
Oh, and friendly reminder…
If you’re standing on the escalator, stand on the right side.
If you’re walking on the escalator, walk on the left side.

I actually really enjoy this subway station… I know it’s strange to like a T station, but I do. (I guess it’s not THAT strange coming from a girl who loves an outlet mall!)
The stairs are definitely long – they’re reminiscent of the Rosslyn stop in D.C. (third-​longest continuous escalator in the metro area, took me a full 2 minutes to get from the subway to above ground!), but they’re nice. Definitely a mini work out if you choose to climb the stairways, but could be a short break from the real world if you’re simply cruising up the escalators.
Another reason I like this stop is the sign that flashes the approaching/​arrival of the next train. I can’t remember if this particular one tells you how many minutes are left, but that’s something I love about the Metro and NYC’s MTA… wish we had more of that here, especially on the green line, but I digress…
The fun doesn’t stop once you step outside Porter… it’s nice here, too, with those big red windmill-​like structures spinning in the wind, and the clean, mod glass entrance. Overall, a winner of a subway stop… and lots of good restaurants/​bars all around, once you’re done with your cardio for the day/​evening.

Skip the gym this week and just get off the train at Porter Square instead! Exit the train and an endless set of stairs rises up in front of you. Get on the escalator and you will feel like you are in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Get on the stairs and you will feel like you are on the stairmaster.
Up and up you go… Step, step, step, step… And it feels like it is never going to end. Then, finally, thank God, you reach the top. You walk through the turnstiles. And in front of you… rises… another set of stairs. What is this, some kind of cruel joke?
In addition to being far enough below ground that you feel like you in a nuclear war bunker, Porter Square has some other charming features. It is home to what may be the ugliest public art installation in world history. They are hot air balloons, made out of metal, and painted red. Well, at least if you get out of the T and get completely disoriented, you will always know that you’re in Porter Square.
As you enter the station, on your way down the escalator, don’t miss the metal «glove» sculptures that look like severed hands. It’s a great opportunity for a joke: hold onto the escalator railing, and then as you glide past one of the «sculptures,» emit a sudden loud cry of alarm, jerk your arm, and bend it sharply at the wrist. Bonus points if you actually get your friends to believe that you severed your hand!

Since this is the T station I’d have to use anytime I want to take the train into the city, I figured I might as well review it.
As far as T stations go, this one is pretty darn decent. It’s a lot cleaner than most, and it seems to also be a lot quieter. Which is nice. I love the really long escalator (I’m all for getting exercise, but I sure ain’t taking that long flight of stairs!).
Well…that’s it. It’s a T station, and a pretty nice one at that. Not much else to say, is there?

Right in the heart of Porter Square, this meets all three of the criteria for a good business. location location and more location.
Take the stairs if you want a work out, or the escalator if you’re just lazy. this is the steepest stairway in Boston I would wager. The artistic segmented paintings of trains from different eras is very cool too.
Many a cold night has been spent here, waiting on the sparse commuter rail trains back to hicksville.

Who reviews T-​stops? Well, apparently a lot of people do (and I do, too!).
The thing is, if you’re taking the T, you have no choice but to go through this place when you need to get to/​from Porter by train. You are going to HAVE TO face the epic, never-​ending escalators, and just look at your feet to avoid passing out. It’s all you can do.
This place really isn’t all that bad. The entrance area is nice, and most of the charlie card machines usually work. There’s usually a T employee milling about, too, if you need a new charlie card. And the ascent/​descent is decorated by little artistic metal gloves to keep your mind distracted form the heights.
Just be careful on the escalators. I’d hate to be behind you if you started falling down because you decided to fumble in your bag for something and then looked around and got dizzy…

Run the stairs, if you dare.

You know that scene from ’28 Days Later’ when the army lady and those 2 kids have to get down the broken escalator to escape certain death by starving zombies?
Yeah, they could have filmed that at the Porter Square T Station.
Holy hell on Earth stairs.
Wow.
Vertigo.

Reviewing a T stop is a sticky wicket. On the one hand, I could fall victim to the endless stream of profanities that risk pouring out of my sailor’s mouth about how goddamn ANGRY and RAGE-​FILLED the MBTA makes me, a humble, tax-​paying commuter who just wants to get to work for a whole week without «signal delays» «disabled trains» and «we apologize for the inconvenience.»
On the other hand, my home port (er) of Porter Square provides such happy factors as the sweet, smiling Metro guy who calls me Gorgeous, even though I’ve never once actually taken a Metro; the portly newspaper gentleman who not only greets everyone who walks by with a happy, authentic HEY GOOD MOWANIN!, but also matches his shirts and headgear to the appropriate holiday; the Jimi Hendrix wannabe busker with the cute little knit cap; the blind banjo-​plucking busker whose seeing eye dog is probably the most contented being in the station; and, in my more generous moods, the little guy with the Spanish guitar who enjoys busting out 80s and 90s soft rock with his Hispanic accent.
It would be nice if I didn’t have to mentally add an extra 5 minutes to my commute just to go up up up all the zillions of stairs, even by escalator, but on the rare times I take the stairs, it’s a nice justification to consequently skip the gym.

Did a month-​long fitness challenge for Healthworks, one of which is located conveniently across the street from the Porter Square T Station.
During the first week of the challenge, I was able to climb all the steps, but had to take a break once I was done, before being able to cross the street and go to the gym. I was pretty winded by the end of the first set of stairs and I walked the second set slooooowly.
During the last week of my challenge, I ran those bad boys — all of ‘em — and I felt great. I thoroughly enjoyed passing everyone and asking people to move out of my way as I ran. I wasn’t being rude, I was just demonstrating how they, too, could be using the Porter Square T Station stairs to their fitness advantage.

Things I can accomplish while riding the escalators down into the depths of the Porter Square T Station:
1. Read a NY Times article on my iPhone App
2. Reply to at least three emails
3. Check-​in on my Unilocal App
4. Read a couple of pages in a paperback book
5. Listen to half of Beck’s «Hell Yes» from the Guero album
6. Stop at the half-​way point of the decent, where there is a conveniently located Citibank ATM, and grab cash.
See, the stairs aren’t so bad. It’s all about multi-​tasking.

I thought I was ascending into heaven trying to get out of the place. The amount of time spent on the escalator was longer than the time it takes the train to get from Davis to Porter!
I was expecting to be greeted by angels when I finally got to the top, but there were only gangsters, who I am under the strong impression based on their yelling, that they were in fact, crunk.

I
Ran
The
Entire
Porter
Square
Stairs
With
Pictures
And
Video
to
Prove
It! (peep the pix)