Riders Walk the Tracks to Ruggles After Two Hours on a Dark Commuter Rail Train; MBTA Blames Leaves

Passengers on an MBTA Commuter Rail train on the Providence Line spent close to two hours on a dark, unmoving train Tuesday evening before getting off in a tunnel and walking along the rails to Ruggles station, NBC10 Boston reported.

"The lights were off. There was no circulating air at this point," rider Dan Brogan told the station. "It was getting really stuffy, really hot." He said passengers "got off in the middle of a dark tunnel, then walked on the rails itself to hop on at the Ruggles station."

The wait did not end there. "Another hour and a half goes by," Brogan said. "Folks are just stranded on the staircase, stranded on the platform, no clear messaging, communication, no overhead announcements, anything like that." Universal Hub, summarizing the NBC report, described it as a 90-minute wait at Ruggles with no information from the T. The MBTA said passengers were safely transferred to another train. Brogan said he had just come from a MassDOT conference on improving rail reliability. "I think this can be a learning opportunity for the MBTA and ourselves," he said.

Transit officials said the train had a mechanical problem caused by fallen leaves, which can leave a slippery film on the rails that makes it harder for trains to brake and gain traction. MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said the agency runs wash trains that pressure-wash leaves off the rails and laser trains to keep them clean. "We're doing this on a regular basis," Eng said. "Every fall season is a little bit different — sometimes the leaves fall early, sometimes the leaves fall late, so we have to be continuous throughout this whole time period."

What riders objected to most, in Brogan's account, was not the delay itself but the lack of information while they waited.

Wednesday morning brought a separate problem on the subway. At 7:12 a.m. the MBTA announced 10-minute delays on the Red Line because of what it called an earlier disabled train at Central, Universal Hub reported. The T did not announce that the delays had cleared until 9:27 a.m., so they lasted through most of the morning commute.

Transit Police, meanwhile, are asking for help identifying a man they say has punched two people without provocation. The first attack was at Medford/Tufts station on the Green Line around 5:45 p.m. on Sept. 26, and the second was on a Route 1 bus in Cambridge around 12:15 p.m. on Oct. 18, police said. "He's punching people without provocation," police said in releasing surveillance photos. Anyone who recognizes him can contact detectives at 617-222-1050, anonymously if they prefer.

The MBTA did not say how many passengers were on the Providence Line train or how many trains were delayed behind it. The agency has not said whether it will review how the incident was communicated to riders.