You’d think more people would have taken to heart one of the “lessons” from Ted Lasso — be curious. Life is more interesting when lived in the spirit of curiosity, and, when it comes to expanding and evolving your transportation modes, curiosity leads to more enjoyable and even easier travels.
Recently, there was some fussing by people who did not think Hartford’s Union Station had enough charging stations or seating or screens; a simple walk/roll through the station easily proved their concerns to be baseless.
How do you be curious about public transportation? One way is to arrive earlier than necessary and try approaching a station from an angle other than what you are used to. Most seem to use the entrance on Spruce Street, but there are at least two other public entrances to the train station, and one of those two is an accessible entrance for those who need a ramp and push button doors.
That’s the Union Place entrance, where there are a few benches outdoors under and awning, an area map, and bike racks. Entering via steps or the ramp puts you inside the Great Hall where there are benches along the wall and in the center of the room. When the building is open, people are allowed to wait here. There is a departure schedule screen located just right of the doors that connect this room to the smaller waiting room that most people default to. Unfortunately, you can’t go right up these stairs to the tracks anymore — you have to go through the next room or use another method — but if you value having personal space and won’t want to wait for a long time on the train platform, this is a good option. There’s also a charging station in this room.
You can also walk in here if you enter on Spruce Street and go straight through that small waiting area and up the handful of stairs; for those who have a particular kind of privilege, you know you’re not likely to be hassled if you try out different doors. Usually in life if an area is off limits there’s a sign on the door saying something to the effect of “no public entrance,” so, go be curious and try opening different doors to see where they lead.
For those who can handle stairs, there’s another option for going to and from the train platform without ever stepping foot indoors. This is convenient when arriving via train and not wanting to deal with the huge cluster of people trying to go down the stairs all at once into the station waiting room. The exterior stairs bring you down to Asylum Street between Spruce Street and Union Place.
The best part about using these stairs? Knowing that there is at least one person watching you walk way the hell down the platform and wondering where you’re going.
