Personally, all this talk of using trains to attend Boston events has me shaking my head. I always drive into twon for Fleet Center/Fenway Park events ... but I have a bevy of usefull parking ideas. I also know of a $5 lot just outside Fleet Center if I need it. I never ride trains anymore ... can't stand them. But I used to ... and therefore knew the trains very well. My best parking idea for Fleet Center is eat at a convenient North End restaurant ... use North End parking (which can be tough but is do-able) and walk about 5 minutes to the Fleet. But, onto train ideas. If you want to avoid the hectic downtown and can afford to be without the innumerable restaurant opportunites in Boston ... there is an excellent alternative. Boston has basically two train systems serving the city. One is the subway system which comprises four different lines - Red, Green, Orange and Blue. The Orange and Green serve "North Station" which is where the Fleet Center is. Both these lines serve the North Shore of Boston so you could easily be set up in one of these communities and use the trains to get in. But the best idea involves the other system .. namely the Commuter Rail System. There are two Boston centers for this system, North Station and South Station. Ideally, a hotel on one of the North lines will set you up perfectly. Off the top of my head, the Mishawum Station on the Lowell-Boston line is perfect. Mishawum is located in a business area with several hotels. A fare from Mishawum to North Station is about $2.00. You ride in comfort on padded seats much like you would on Amtrak. These are above surface railways and the train pulls right under the Fleet Center. You never need to be exposed to the sky once you board the train. Only drawback to this system is the frequency of trains. Shouldn't be a problem scheduling one in but you might be caught watching your watch to get a train out ... seeing that there is sometimes about an hour between departing trains leaving North Station during late night. The major plus of this idea is comfort of ride, excellent promptness of arrivals and departure times, and swiftness of travel ... there are only a few stops between Mishawum and Boston so the ride is only about 15 minutes. There are other lines besides Lowell-Boston which are served by North Station and may provide additonal possibilities. P.S. The commuter rail lines which pull into South Station from points south including New York City are useless ... since you have to go across town to get to Fleet Center. HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.