Sullivan Square MBTA Station – MBTA Buses & Orange Line

Not a very bad station, just the Restrooms are filty the men’s bathroom doesn’t look like it has been clean in years very Unsanitary

As a tourist I wanted to find out how easy and safe were the entrance-​exit spots and main avenues surrounding this station. That was almost impossible to find out online, even if using the very handy Google Earth/​maps. There’s only one entrance and, if you’re coming from the west (where the lofts are), you can get there via Broadway avenue (longer) or Cambridge St. (more direct). The station is functional and not as dirty as I expected. The trains weren’t that old/​slow and the drivers actually use the speaker system to communicate the next stops and which door will open.
My complaint here is the safety of the station, especially outside. It’s kind of dark and solitary after 6 PM, and there are many shady subjects hanging around. Vigilance should be increased, because I didn’t feel safe at all walking alone with my luggage there. Also, the electric escalators weren’t working on a Sunday evening, and I was carrying a heavy bag. Very inconvenient.
The MBTA system is a good one and was my main mode of transportation in the Boston/​Cambridge/​Somerville area, but it’s quite expensive. $ 2.60 or so per ticket gets you six or seven rides in other cities. I had to get one of those weekly passes for $ 20. Lots of money and I didn’t even have enough time to get familiar with the routes of the connected buses.

Rated 2 stars ONLY because this t station is an easy way to get in and out of the city (or as easy as taking the MBTA can be, anyway…).
If you’re looking for a place to park, however, I recommend trying Wellington or Assembly Row, since the one time that we parked here, we were very lucky to get a spot (also the parking was cash only).
The stop has bathrooms, which is a plus when you’re waiting 20+ minutes in the middle of a New England winter (or a day that ends in «Y», for that matter) after having already waited and ridden a bus into the T stop. That is, it WOULD be a plus, if the bathrooms didn’t seem to have «out of order» or cleaning notices up at least 30% of the time. Even when the bathroom is in order, it seems that there’s never any soap in the dispenser or paper towels (and they don’t have an air dryer). It’s also usually really disgusting in at least one of the two stalls, so I only recommend a Sullivan Square bathroom trip if it’s a REALLY urgent matter.
There is also an ATM located here (since the two businesses inside the station and the parking are cash only), but like the bathrooms, this seems to not work more often than not, though I’m not sure what sort of responsibility the MBTA has for ensuring this is operational.
As for the downward escalator, this seems to break at least once a month. I usually try to take the stairs anyway, but have noticed that this seems to just be another regular occurrence of «things broken at Sullivan Square».

This place is a train wreck. It’s filthy. There is trash knee deep strewn along the rail lines. Graffiti galore. Parking lot lights out for months. No sign even identifies this location as a T station. The sidewalks are so disgusting that you either are sure to stick to them or slip on them. I will not even go into the 40 year old late trains and PA system that sounds like someone is yelling orders to Shamu… yes, underwater. This place needs to be bleached and power washed.

It takes approximately 35 – 45 min to get from oak Grove to forest hills. On a weekend with shuttle bus service, expect to wait 25 min for the train to come, 10 for it to start and another 15 to get to Back Bay.
Absolutely horrendous service. Particularly in the morning, between the hours of 7.45−9.30am don’t expect to find room on the train. Stand before the yellow line is all you will hear. The train is packed from the previous stops so there is never any room.
This area isn’t safe to walk at night either. All on all, try to avoid it.

This is the land that time forgot. Whether it’s the rain pouring down on you from the highway above or the rats picking through the trash on the tracks, you’ll always be reminded about how this is an area that Boston would rather let people think resided in Somerville.

heres a letter to some jerk… rode my bike to Sullivan, spent the day at the beach in southie. came back to find that someone stole the tires of my bike. I parked and locked my bike in the designated bike area… nothing about the station itself, but sir with my tires, YOU SUCK, just take the whole thing next time, cuz carrying bike frame blows.

I have no idea why this place has as many stars as it does… The area is kinda sketchy, especially at night. Depending on the time of day, it can get very crowded, and the station is not very large so it is easy to bump into people a lot. It is not the cleanest station either. The bathroom (men’s) is kinda smelly (perhaps that is to be expected in a public area). When the OJ line has issues, Sullivan is the last stop, and the shuttles run from there to the last 3 stops. The shuttles are terrible — they must be operated by drivers on probation or something. Many of the drivers make very abrupt stops and drive very fast, which is dangerous.

Sullivan station is a great place has great columbian coffee place. Ah! Love the coffee there. But sometime I get confused which bus goes where. It’s huge place with upper and lower levels.

I can park farther away for less; I can part closer for more. Sullivan Square is a good medium. It’s reasonably easy to access coming in from the north. It’s likely to be full if you try to park there right before a Celtics or Bruins game, otherwise you’ve got a good chance at a spot. Getting out can be a test of patience. Above all, don’t use the bathrooms unless you absolutely have to.

Through no fault of its own, Sullivan is in one of the seediest sections north of Boston that is near a T stop. It’s the one I try to avoid at night.
I have lived within a few miles of this stop for almost 15 years now and I always hoped I’d see some sort of transformation in and around this stop but not much has changed. It’s rather dark, there are normally a handful of characters hanging around and the end of the streets you begin walking down to get to some of the neighboring restaurants aren’t all that welcoming either.
If you’re a tourist in the area, I’d try to avoid this one. Wellington is much better lit, has more working professionals getting on and off and feels like a commuter stop. The new platform going in at Assembly Square will likely have the same feel. Sullivan is a throwback to the 80’s when it comes to the orange line. Few trendy spots have gone up around it to gentrify the area (I like gentrification in urban environments, apologies if you don’t agree).
The only good thing about Sullivan is that it is a three minute ride into North Station if you are going to a Bruins/​Celtics game or concert. You could park on the street after 6 PM I believe, and park for free here. But don’t say you weren’t warned when you get off the train after 10 PM and feel a tad fearful walking back to your car. East Slummahville gonna East Slummahville.

I’m reading some of the reviews here and for a moment thought it was another Sullivan Square Station in another state. This place is horrid and the service is equally horrid. Waiting for over an hour for a 90 Bus when it’s 19 degrees outside is horrid!

Sometimes I get confused and end up here.
Sometimes I end up here on purpose.
Sullivan Square is a lot nicer than Wellington, Malden Center, etc. The escalator is in a reasonable place. The station is small and cozy so you don’t have to run for the T (too much).
And there’s seating! On benches! Such luxury for an orange line station.

Best place to park for commuters in my opinion. It’s just as filthy as all the rest, even the bathrooms, but hey! when you gotta go you gotta go! it’s a easy ride to the heart of the city and back and usually less crowded than the dreaded green line since you get on closer to the end. I love the space age carpet seats and the perma-​egg smell in the cabin– it always adds to the excitement.

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.

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?

This place could be a film set for a movie about nuclear war. You know, the scene where they show what disaster hath been wrought on the planet.
One might come here for a pleasant morning stroll amid concrete flyovers. A stroll in which there are no crosswalks and no sidewalks. Sullivan Square could be a lot more pedestrian-​friendly than it is. And that is me being nice.
The best part of Sullivan Square is the Schrafft building, with its neon-​pink sign, the headquarters of a New England candy company of days gone by. To express your reverence, say it 3x fast, in a teenage-​boy Beavis & Butthead tone of voice: «Schraaaaafft…»
One might also come here for the adventure of navigating an 8-​way intersection in which approximately only 50% of the streets are labeled. It would be a great starting point for the Amazing Race — drop them here and see if they can figure out what country (decade, universe) they are in!

The orange line delays were particularly crappy last week. In the AM, by the time the inbound gets to Sullivan (the 4^th stop) the cars are already too full. And you have to wait for the next one which sometimes doesn’t come for 10 min. Which means it is even more full than the last. At least the buses are better. My biggest complaint is when this sketchy dude was harassing me there were no employees or security to be found.
When I move next month, the only thing I’ll miss is the donut place.

I love living near the orange line. There are some not so occasional delays, but things still usually stay moving, or with a minimal delay. Whiners, complain all you want, but just remember this ain’t no green line train and be happy!
There’s a convenience store and a donut shop inside the station, and every once in a while, people handing out Jesus info in front of the station. I approve of two of those three things! There’s a bathroom, which I’ve never used, but often smells of Lysol and bleach.
Downside is not enough inside warm waiting areas in the winter, and also people seem to not be aware that other people are around them and want to get in and out of the station. I find myself dodging people and saying «excuse me» more here than at other stations. The escalators aren’t always running in the morning, and I hate walking down them when they aren’t working because I am afraid of falling down them. My own issues, but turn on the escalators, peeps.
Also, MBTA officials, please get more security at this station. I’ve seem some sketchy looking events occurring on MBTA property that I looked the other way at in case something was happening, like say, a drug deal. Get more security and random bag checks happening, please.

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?