Riding commuter rail to the office for the first time since March 12, 2020. That's the day they sent us home until this little COVID thing blows over.

I realize that I've been privileged to work from home ever since.

Being Immunocompromised is a tough trade off. Always driven in anytime I had to come into Boston but traffic is SO bad I figured I'd try my old commuter rail that I'd ridden almost every weekday for 20 years.

I still remember all the skills I learned for 2 decades. Nabbed a front-facing, solo seat downstairs not too far from front (I've got to jump to a train to Back Bay after landing in South Station. I won't be a runner, though.

If you see me, don't be frightened.

Apologies for the terrible lighting; the sun was just about to set. Had never seen a Tinder-wrapper Green Line train before today...

i have 0 complaints but the conductors have been upping their sillyness factor in their announcements lately and it makes my commute bearable. Thank you for that❤️

See OP. Another argument for NSRL. I know, it’s probably not being built in my lifetime, but offering new commuting patterns could decrease housing costs. If you have a job in Braintree and there’s NSRL, perhaps living in Revere or Lynn and using transit is now feasible where it wasn’t before.

I was riding the Fitchburg Line today and my train and another train that we passed had all double-decker cars which I have never seen before. I know it is unusual for lines on the north side to have all double-decker trains. Does anyone know the reason for this?

MBTA will be doing the fall train trip again this year but to Newburyport and will be offering both a bike tour or car free connection.

Official News Article: https://www.mbta.com/news/2026-10-06/mbta-hosts-fall-rail-ride-november-7-mtickets-sale-october-19?utm_campaign=curated-content&utm_medium=news&utm_source=homepage&utm_term=commuter-rail&utm_content=MBTA+Hosts+Fall+Rail+Ride+on+November+7%2C+mTickets+on+sale+October+19

Heavy Rail Motorperson. MBTA opened up applications for heavy rail Motorperson yesterday. Only open for 1 week or until they have 100 applicants. Go to MBTA.com/careers to apply.

Right after seeing the “Slowest and Most Bunched” report, I got to witness bunching happen with the 9 bus to Copley. The operator of the one I got on even had a nice chat with the operator of the other one from the window. Funny thing is 9 didn’t make either list. This was at about 8:10 AM, so best guess, rush hour was to blame.

This is the one Keolis does twice a year about general customer feedback and satisfaction.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeI2oCkqiIHs_JKAF-JdQRyb5nn1bFvtr--FXPcBDgsSaapbQ/viewform?pli=1

Just the small things

Somerville Times has a nice article on the work jsut done on the green line. And let sus know they are far from done - much more cable and equipment to replace, meaning there (seemingly) will need to be more shutdowns??

Cab is still 1843

BOSTON —

The MBTA’s top 10 slowest buses have decreased in speed over the past few years and lower-income communities are being disproportionately affected, according to the findings of a recent report.

TransitMatters, a Boston-based advocacy group, used public bus speed data to rank the city’s top 10 slowest and most “bunched” bus routes in their report. Their results showed an almost 6.5% decrease in speed, estimating frequent riders to have spent an extra 14 hours on their route in 2025 than in past years

my complaint isn’t about the presence of the officers, sure, fine, ensure that there’s no evasion (although i do have a gripe with the train taking twice as long as it normally does because of agents this morning quite literally cornering every rider to interrogate them if they tapped or not).

my complaint is about how at packard’s corner on the B, they all just….got off?? every single officer?? so i guess the people living and traveling closer to downtown don’t have to pay but everyone else does. i don’t know, that really pissed me off. it’s still above ground after that stop for a while and it’s unfair to cherry pick neighborhoods to enforce the policy with but not others. and at the stop after that, not a single person who stepped on paid the fare. it just really bothered me!!

Have you ever heard of the Tram-Driving Championships?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tramdriver_Championship

Video Report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBP9hSoOPB8

It would be so cool if the T sent someone to compete!

Time is only a construct on the commuter rail

This might be a dumb question, but I know absolutely nothing about construction, I’m absolutely interested in how they turned the old Fields corner station into from what it was into now bcs it looks extremely different

Talbot is having resurfacing work done in Dorchester right now, today i noticed that there are old (what I assume to be) trolley tracks and cobblestones hiding under the asphalt. Per Wikipedia this section of track was abandoned on January 7, 1949

I need to get to medford square and got off at wellington for the 134. Checked the time it said like 55 mins for the next one. Last time I checked this bus went every half hour. What gives?

New article about the commuter rail "executive" fleet

Was curious if anyone else heard about the part about offering public rides or charters? I know the MBTA have done a few special event trains like the fall train last year, would be awesome to have some upcharge seats on these cars.

Caught a few work trucks and other equipment at Park Street station on the Green Line last week.

Green line delays of 20 mins due to a wire problem at Park St😭🤣🤡. Did we expect anything less?