South Station could be renamed to honor Mike Dukakis

That's exactly what I was going to write. The Duke will be the unofficial nickname

Since they're naming it “Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station,” I assume the logic is that it'll still be South Station, it's just that the building proper will have a different name from the train station itself or something. That sort of arbitrary hair-splitting is still moderately confusing, but since North Station has coexisted with the Boston Garden/Fleet Center/TD Garden since the original garden was built, it's not really all that unprecedented. South Station the train station is different from the broader "transportation center."

No, but as Pee Wee Herman said, "I lived it."

The abandoned parts weren't the parts the average commuter saw (although they were in dire need of maintenance). It was the office floors that were abandoned due to fire, leaky roofs, and a general lack of care.

The main South Station building used to be much bigger than it is today -- it extended south next to Atlantic Avenue (to where the bus station is today), and east next to Summer Street (where the 245 Summer St. building is now). Basically these wings weren't areas for passengers, but they housed facilities such as baggage and express, along with offices upstairs. Both wings were demolished in the 1970s.

Where the large waiting room is today, there was an area known as the concourse. This had been erected in the 1930s, replacing an earlier structure called a train shed. The concourse was pretty dark and nondescript -- if there was any architectural detail, you couldn't see it because of the dim light and grime. There was a newsstand in the middle and another kiosk which housed Mother's Bakery -- a branch of a small local chain. My mouth waters every time I think of their fig squares and turnovers. And some benches. Although the concourse was pretty large, that was about all it had. You walked out directly from the concourse, through a series of gates, onto the platforms between the tracks. (You couldn't get from one platform to another without going back into the concourse.) I think the area now used for the ticket office was off-limits, and the upstairs lounge for Acela passengers was definitely closed off to the public.

During the restoration project In the mid 1980s, they closed the building entirely, and built a temporary station. You entered the temporary station via a narrow walkway off of Summer Street, next to the 245 building. The temporary station itself was a tiny building with a couple of ticket windows and a very few benches. There must have been some restrooms, but not much more. It was located in back of the main station near the platforms for Tracks 10 & 11, I think.

It was so nice when they reopened the main building with that great waiting area with all the sunlight! Such a contrast with the old dingy concourse!

I once read a book, published in 1916 I think, which said that South Station was the busiest railroad station in the world. Second busiest was Boston's North Station. (Back then a lot of big cities had multiple stations, often spreading the ridership among the depots. Chicago had at least six.)

The concept of building a rail tunnel through downtown Boston, to connect the southern lines with the northern ones, dates back to the mid 1800s.

Either way the taxpayer looses

Looses ... meaning???

Nope, Dukakis rode (rides) the C.

My father was hired by the MBTA to determine the optimal way to introduce then highly anticipated, much faster, Boeing LRVs to the Green Line. He provided the mathematical proof that starting with the D branch, with its greater distance between stops, would result in the greatest improvement of service.

They thanked him for his study, paid him his fee, and as the LRVs were delivered began dispatching them on the C line. Why? Because Governor Dukakis regularly rode it to the State House.