Copley MBTA Station – Green Line

Can’t get around Boston without the T. Traveling the Green line now is a hassle now with the closing of Government Center stop for renovations. The price of progress I suppose. Love walking out of the Copley Station and seeing the Pru and Copley square.

I have watched people get on the MBTA countless times with functional bikes. Never have I seen anyone say something to these people in front of me, EVER. The one time I am in distress, far from home, fell off my bike, blew both of my tires, The train conductors decide to care about bikes on an empty T.. Way to have compassion MBTA employees, Chivalry is dead.

I frequent the Copley station on the green line a few times a week, and it’s always a random hit or miss.
The yays:
— Close to the Pru, Copley Place, BPL, area restaurants and shops.
— Extremely accessible.
— The 9 bus stop. This bus goes all the way to Broadway. Sometimes, it’s quicker than the green line to Park Street on some days.
— Few blocks away from the esplanade. It’s about a 15 minute walk on a very nice day.
The nays:
— The guy taking a leak but the bus stop. Yuck.
— Murky, slippery, watery stairs when it rains.
— Like others have said, I agree. When you have to pay to switch directions. It should be free with proof of payment if you need to switch.
— Skateboarders thinkin they run the place.
I’ll think of more to add to this later.

right outside my hotel, easy to figure out (if you have half a brain) wish they had a daily or weekly pass for out of towners
a bit of construction is going on at some of their stations so be sure to ask for help if needed

You know what, I love the Copley station. It’s annoying that you can’t change directions without first going above ground, and it would be amazing if you could get to Back Bay without having to go outside and pay a second fee, but it is what it is.
The new renovation is quite lovely and gives it a much better flavor as seen from aboveground, especially in the context of Copley Square.
Could live without the stairs flooding when it rains, but I think some problems are endemic in all subway stations.

Very convenient to the Boston Public Library, Copley Square, Boylston St, and Newbury St. But when you’re getting on the T, make sure you know whether you’re going inbound or outbound. Once you pay, I don’t think you can switch sides of the track without paying again.

Copley MBTA Station taught me a good lesson…
Now I am more aware of which entrance I should go in order to catch either the inbound or the outbound train…
I made a mistake… without even reading the sign… and went down the wrong side… and then I went out of the gate and try to go into the right direction… my stupid pass won’t let me in… since I used that at this station already…
With no staffs in sight… and I was running late…
I ended up walk all the way to Arlington Station in order to get back in!
Stupid tourist!

This is a subway station. Subway cars arrive intermittently and take you from here to your destination, or at least somewhat closer to it. The station does this job well, unless of course the cars are delayed. However, this is not the fault of the station.

Let’s get to brass tacks. You’re going to be riding the Green Line and you want to minimize your pain. So how do you optimize your experience in the Copley station?
1. Know your entrances. Catch the inbound trains through the entrance on the south side of the street, near the library, and the outbound on the north side of the street at the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth.
2. Stand near the far end of the platform, furthest from where the train approaches. The trains pull all the way to the front of the platform, yet few people wait there, so you’ll have a better chance of getting into a packed train.
3. When exiting the outbound side of the station, go to your left to emerge on the east side of Dartmouth (nearer the Pru) and to your right to emerge on the west.
4. Attendant booths are rarely manned, so forget about grabbing a new Charlie Card here. But there is rarely a line for the machines to refill your existing card.
As far as T stations go, you could do worse than Copley. It’s reasonably clean, and because it’s before the Green Line split, you rarely have to wait long for a train. However, it’s also annoying that you have to leave the station to go from the inbound to the outbound platform, and the stairs can be treacherous in bad weather. Plus, seating in the station is minimal and feels especially so at rush hours.
Ugh, when are they going to invent flying cars already?

Completing the Copley Station modernization project took $ 60+ million, 20ish years, a court case (
), a floor to ceiling crack in the east wall of the landmark Old South Church (soon to be repaired). .. .
Despite it all, even Nancy Taylor – Old South’s senior minister – was singing the project’s praises at the grand (re)opening ceremony on October 29 because, although the station has been around for 89+ years, it wasn’t made «accessible» until this round of renovations. Elevators are now situated at the inbound and outbound entrances; an up escalator has also been added on the inbound side (one preexisted on the outbound side):
«It is a great and overdue achievement, therefore,
that this old, venerable 1913 subway line and this
most important Copley Station, are now the right of
the many… a conveyance for young and the old…
the hale and the frail… the able bodied and the
differently-​abled.»
(
)
In addition to making the station compliant with the American Disabilities Act, the renewal project updated the interior spaces and also spiffed up all three of the station’s preexisting above-​ground structures. After spending decades in disrepair, the ornate wrought-​iron inbound headhouse adjacent to McKim’s Boston Public Library is once again worthy of its prime location amongst some of Boston architecture’s greatest hits. It was carefully deconstructed, its pieces salvaged or replicated, and then it was reconstructed. The MBTA might not have had Hector Guimard, but at least it incorporated a few works of art – namely this headhouse – into its planning.
Additionally, the hideous and deteriorated outbound headhouses have been demolished in favor of far prettier (and pricier) ones that match the separate elevator structures and that complement (without overpowering) the surrounding buildings. The new structures have transparent glass walls and ceilings and their rectilinear shape echoes the BPL’s two buildings – a vast improvement over the heavy, opaque, and triangular-​esque brick headhouses that were there before. The minimalist, streamlined supports between the glass panels also reiterate the wrought-​iron materiality of the original inbound headhouse and of Old South’s gates. All in all, these brand-​new pavilions interact with their historic surroundings in much the same way that Henry Cobb’s nearby Hancock Tower draws attention to rather than distracts from HHR’s beloved Trinity Church. Graham Gund’s firm did an admirable job devising a self-​deprecating and sensitive design that dramatically (and functionally) improves Copley Square’s streetscape: