I realize there isn’t a lot of competition here — Muni doesn’t really specialize in interesting trolley stations — but my favorite of its stations, by far, is Forest Hill.

First off, it’s in (and underneath) a building — and a really old, cool building at that. Second, because it’s connected to the also-nifty Twin Peaks Tunnel, it’s really deep underground and the only access to the platforms is down a long elevator ride or several flights of steps, evoking the Tube stations/tunnels in London. Third, and I know this is really peculiar of me, it has that funky smell of something that’s been deep underground a long time. You can tell you’re about to get to the station (after more than a mile of being underground) because you can smell it.

I’ve studied other transit systems and love it when stops/stations are structured like this. Some of London’s Tube stations are in moderately interesting buildings (and they’ve discussed turning the famous Battersea Power Station into another one. Moscow’s metro system — which I’d love to travel one day — has fancy, historic buildings as many of its major stations. I guess San Francisco is more like Paris, where everything’s underground and all you get is a nondescript staircase leading down — except for a few exceptions, such as Forest Hill and West Portal.

Anyone else got a favorite Muni station?

– Beth W.

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