Charlie on the Commuter Rail notes that the issue of commuter-rail conductors not announcing where their trains are going at Ruggles grows only worse:

They often don't bother to announce the destination of the train, and sometimes they don't even step out on the platform! Since the trains have been more and more erratic, time-wise (they can vary from the schedule by five minutes or more) this is particularly worrisome. Often passengers have to go into a train and ask the passengers inside where the train is going.

Also, there was a car on the Franklin Line last night that smelled like sewage.

You may recall how the initial "let's mess with commuters' heads and not announce destinations at stations like Ruggles" thing started during the secret work action, which is supposed to be over, but, you know, conductors just wanna have fun.

Meanwhile, Train Stopping shows that what we have on commuter rail is a failure to communicate: In response to a commuter complaining about inaccurate delay info on mbta.com, a customer-service manager at MBCR (which actually runs the trains), replied:

We provide the MBTA with the delay information but we cannot access their website to post delay information; that falls under their purview.

Allegedly the MBTA is working on a fix, but has provide no completion date.

Michaela reports the Ruggles Dunkin' Donuts has some guy who made such a good French vanilla iced coffee with sugar and milk that:

By the time I got to Back Bay station. I wish I asked him his name and hours for September so I can specifically go out of my way to get that iced coffee again and again when I'm back in Boston for good.

Both Friday and Monday, Quasit's train from Franklin never stopped at Ruggles due to - sing it with me - signal problems:

I've put in for the on-time service guarantee on both days. Since the train never arrived at my destination, the MBTA can hardly claim that it was on time!

However, he does report some progress: At least conductors announced the bypass on the train.

Charlie on the Commuter Rail describes what one might think is a scene from a third-world railroad station at Ruggles the other night, except that's probably an insult to third-world railroad stations:

... Nothing came in when or where it was supposed to. The Needham Heights train that shows up at Ruggles at 4:13 PM...didn't. Trains came at the wrong time, half an hour late or more.

And in every single case the conductors didn't bother to announce what the train was.

Some of these trains were coming in within a few minutes of the arrival time of a completely different train. You'd think that conductors would realize that people would be confused, and would announce the destination. But they didn't.

We passengers had to run up and down the station platform every time, looking for a conductor to tell us where the train was going. And even then, most of the conductors still didn't bother to make the announcements. Passengers had to pass the word along instead. ...

Earlier:
What? Commuter-rail brakes can't handle the cold?

Some teen beef at Ruggles station escalated into gunfire yesterday afternoon; nobody injured, however, according to Boston Police, who report they have a gun and one suspect - a juvenile arrested after a foot chase at Tremont Street and Melnea Cass Boulevard. A second suspect eluded MBTA, Northeastern and Boston police.

The Herald reports that police Commissioner Ed Davis had to delay his visit to the grandmother shot on Dubois Street Saturday night to respond to Ruggles and another shooting in Jamaica Plain.

Back in June:
Shooting shuts Ruggles.

Jeremy Thomas, 18, and Jonathan Thomas, 20, face charges that they shot a guy twice (well, that one of them shot the guy repeatedly but only managed to hit him twice) as their Orange Line train opened its doors at Ruggles station on June 28. Roxbury District Court Judge Edward Redd today ordered the brothers held on $200,000 cash bail, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.

Channel 5: Teen shot in leg on Orange Line train coming into Ruggles station outbound around 1 p.m. Two black males sought. Channel 4 has some video.

SuperMark wonders about what he saw around 10 p.m. Saturday:

... i'm pretty sure someone got stabbed, but was hoping for an actual story. All I know for sure is that some guy was covered in blood, the EMTs were joking with him, there were no trains stopping at Ruggles, and the cops were questioning a group of kids on a bus. ...

Suggestion 7,012 for how to increase T ridership by not pissing off existing riders so much they all go out and buy SUVs: If you need to have a train stop at the wrong platform, see if there are people in the station who are waiting for it where it normally stops:

... A few of the passengers went onboard and managed to find a conductor. They brought back bad news: it was the Needham Heights train, apparently six minutes late. I had a horrible suspicion, and looked at the opposite, inbound side of the tracks. Sure enough, another train had quietly pulled in on that side, and as we passengers headed towards it, it started up and pulled away.

William, the biggest bastard-conductor on the entire line, pointedly ignored the thirty or so passengers who called out to him, asking which train it was. Another conductor took pity on us and said "Franklin!". But despite the pleas of the passengers, the train didn't stop. To say that the thirty of us were angry would be a huge understatement. ...