The CA&E stopped at Canal to board westbound passengers and alight eastbound passengers; conductors checked the tickets of everyone who had boarded at the Wells Street Terminal at Canal as well. Passengers boarded westbound trains on the train's left side; since the motorman was unable to see out of that side, the conductor was also needed to signal the end of the boarding process using the train's buzzer. Lest it compete with the "L" directly, CA&E passengers were not allowed to board eastbound trains at Canal, nor were westbound passengers allowed to alight at stations within the "L" area of service. CA&E trains were limited to on "L" tracks, although in practice the curves of the main line limited operation to as slow as around Canal. Nevertheless, CA&E took one minute to go from Wells Street to Canal.
