Mansfield commute to Mass General (Boston, Cambridge: home, transfer, living)

[localinsight]

Hi, everyone.

Does anyone have experience w/commuting to Mass General Hosp. from the city of Mansfield? How long does it take? Is parking free at the commuter rail station in Mansfield? Does the lot fill up early?

If commuting to MGH (red line, commuter rail), does it save time to live South of Boston? I hear the red line has a stop at MGH.

Thanks.

[jayrandom]

I take a different line and get off one stop later (Kendall/MIT), but I can tell you the Mansfield/MGH commute is reasonable. Mansfield is pretty far out, but the Providence line doesn't make many stops, so it's generally pretty quick to South Station. The red line can be very frustrating on the way home at night, especially if you're making a tight connection, but it's generally ok.

As for living South, it's generally an advantage if you're going to Cambridge, but the walk from North Station (where the Northbound trains depart) isn't really that bad a walk from MGH. The extra distance from North Station might be made up by not having to transfer at all. Something to consider, at least if you prefer walking to waiting.

[dem3456]

The Mansfield commuter rail station does fill up pretty quickly and the trains are crowded at peak times. I believe that the cost of parking at the station was $2.00 the last time I went, but there are two parking lots, one on each side of the tracks, so I don't know about the lot on the side opposite the ticket office.

Like jayrandom said, I think there are only 4 or 5 stops between Mansfield and South Station, so the train ride is usually around 40 minutes one way.

[localinsight]

Thanks for the details regarding the commute into the city.

It's good to have that 40min estimate time frame to compare to other commutes.

I am helping do this research for a family of 5 so I expect that they will have to live out a ways of boston - for the space.