Observations From My First Trip to Boston on South Coast Rail

Like many folks south of Boston, I waited for what seemed an eternity for the South Coast Rail to materialize. It is here, and I've taken my first ride.

My son was visiting from Virginia over the recent Easter weekend, so on Patriots' Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts and Maine, my son, my wife and I tried out the new South Coast Rail experience.

We boarded the Boston-bound MBTA train at the New Bedford station, known locally as the Whale's Tooth. That allowed us to experience the complete ride from beginning to end.

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Our adventure launched at 10:34 a.m. Following a seven-minute delay somewhere around Middleboro to allow an oncoming train to pass, we arrived at Boston's South Station two hours after our departure.

What can you say about South Station? It's a mass of mostly organized confusion and noise, and people are hurriedly coming and going in all directions.

We know Boston fairly well and set out for a long walk, which included lunch, the Boston Common, the Public Garden and a ride on the Swan Boats.

The 4:34 p.m. train home left South Station at 4:38 p.m. and arrived back at New Bedford station one hour and 54 minutes later.

The rides to and from Boston were pleasant experiences. There was no charge to ride the train on Patriots' Day, so you couldn't beat the price.

READ MORE: New Bedford, Fall River Weekend MBTA Trains Experience Issues

The train cars and the restrooms were clean, quiet, well-lit, smelled good and were comfortable. We sat on the upper level of a two-level car to enhance the view. The staff we encountered was also pleasant.

As you might expect, the view from the train track is different than that from the highway. The scenery from the train consists of the back end of retail buildings and industrial sites, but there are also cranberry bogs, woods, water and many homes along the way.

One of the more disgusting views from the train window is a section of woods to the west of the tracks between New Bedford's Church Street station and Nash Road. The area is littered with garbage and what appears to be mostly abandoned homeless encampments.

Not a wonderful "welcome to New Bedford" for folks who might be visiting the area.

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Overall, the experience was a positive one; however, the amount of time getting to and returning home from Boston via South Coast Rail is likely to keep me from being a regular user.

I simply could not imagine doing this every day.