Ruggles (MBTA station)

RUGGLES RUGGLES
Orange Line and commuter rail trains at Ruggles
Location	Ruggles and Tremont Streets Roxbury Crossing, MA
Coordinates	42°20′10″N 71°05′22″W / 42.3362°N 71.0895°WCoordinates: 42°20′10″N 71°05′22″W / 42.3362°N 71.0895°W
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Orange Line   Franklin Line   Needham Line   Providence/Stoughton Line
Platforms	1 island platform (Orange Line) 1 island platform (Commuter Rail)
Tracks	2 (Orange Line) 3 (Commuter Rail)
Construction
Bicycle facilities	12 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	1A (commuter rail)
History
Opened	May 4, 1987 (Orange Line)[1] October 5, 1987 (Commuter Rail)[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2012)	1,690 daily boardings[2] (Commuter Rail)
Passengers (2013)	12,433 daily boardings[3] (Orange Line)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Hyde Park toward Forge Park/495 Franklin Line Back Bay toward South Station Forest Hills toward Needham Heights Needham Line Hyde Park toward Wickford Junction or Stoughton Providence/Stoughton Line Roxbury Crossing toward Forest Hills Orange Line Mass Ave toward Oak Grove
Location

Ruggles is an intermodal transfer station serving MBTA rapid transit, bus, and commuter rail services. It is located at the intersection of Ruggles and Tremont streets, where the Roxbury, Fenway-Kenmore and Mission Hill neighborhoods meet. The station occupies the site that was previously the South End Grounds, home of the former Boston Braves from 1871 to 1914. It is surrounded by the campus of Northeastern University.

Ruggles is a station stop for the Orange Line subway, as well as the Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin Line, and Needham Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. Thirteen bus routes stop at Ruggles, including four of the fifteen key MBTA bus routes.

Ruggles station opened on May 4, 1987 and was built as part of an Orange Line realignment project which relocated the former Washington Street Elevated Orange Line service into the Southwest Corridor. Commuter rail service to the station began on October 5, 1987.^[1] Ruggles is located at milepost 226.5, 1.1 miles from Back Bay and 2.2 miles from South Station.^[4]

Station layout

A total of five tracks run through the station: two for the Orange Line and three for commuter rail. Of the three commuter rail tracks (also used by Amtrak, which does not stop), only tracks 1 and 3 serve the station; track 2 (the far inbound track) bypasses it.^[4] The main bus boarding area is located next to track 2.

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance
M	Mezzanine	To entrances/exits
P Platforms	Southbound	← Orange Line toward Forest Hills (Roxbury Crossing)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left
	Northbound	→ Orange Line toward Oak Grove (Massachusetts Avenue) →
	Commuter rail	← Needham Line, Providence/Stoughton Line, and Franklin Line →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left, right
	Commuter rail	← Needham Line, Providence/Stoughton Line, and Franklin Line →
	Commuter rail Amtrak	← Passing track →

Future plans

Urban Ring

Ruggles was a proposed stop on the MBTA's planned Urban Ring Project.^[5] The Urban Ring was to be a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line designed to connect the current MBTA Lines to reduce strain on the downtown stations; however, it has been shelved indefinitely.

Second commuter rail platform

An Acela Express train passes the planned location of the second commuter rail platform

A number of smaller projects in the corridor have been approved; among them is adding a second commuter rail platform to serve Track 2 at Ruggles, thus allowing all commuter rail trains to stop there. Currently, about 30% of trains do not stop, as reaching the platform would require crossing over to Track 1 or Track 3. The MBTA began consideration of a second platform in 1993, just six years after Ruggles opened.^[6] A preliminary study in 2008 recommended a full-length 800-foot platform located entirely east of the busway bridge.^[7]

The MBTA began holding public meetings in 2012, with the new platform now to be located next to the existing platform. It will be split in two sections connected by a short pedestrian tunnel under the busway bridge; the gap will be short enough to allow all doors on a train to still open onto the platform.^[8] In September 2014, the MBTA received a $20 million TIGER grant for the project, which is estimated to cost $30 million in total. Besides the new platform, work will include lighting and security upgrades, elevator improvements, and rehabilitation of the deteriorated northern half of the existing platform, which is blocked off from use.^[9]

By March 2016, the project was at 90% design and expected to reach 100% design by mid-2016, when it would be advertised for bidding. Construction was to begin in late 2016 and last through 2018.^[8] As of October 2016, bidding on the $22 million main contract is expected to begin in January 2017.^[10]

Bus connections

Ruggles also serves as a major transfer point and terminal for MBTA Bus services. Most routes enter a deboarding platform from Ruggles Street and proceed to a below-grade boarding area which exits back onto Ruggles; some routes enter and/or exit on a side connection to Columbus Avenue and Tremont Street.

A bus leaves Ruggles on the #47 route

• 8 Harbor Point/UMass – Kenmore Station via B.U. Medical Center & Dudley Station
• 15 Kane Sq. or Fields Corner Station – Ruggles Station via Uphams Corner
• 19 Fields Corner Station – Kenmore or Ruggles Station via Grove Hall & Dudley Station
• 22 Ashmont Station – Ruggles Station via Talbot Ave. & Jackson Square
• 23 Ashmont Station – Ruggles Station via Washington St.
• 28 Mattapan Station – Ruggles Station via Dudley Station
• 42 Forest Hills Station – Dudley or Ruggles Station via Washington St.
• 43 Ruggles Station – Park & Tremont Sts. via Tremont St.
• 44 Jackson Square – Ruggles Station via Seaver St. and Humboldt Ave.
• 45 Franklin Park Zoo – Ruggles Sta. via Blue Hill Ave.
• 47 Central Sq., Cambridge – Broadway Station via B.U. Medical Center, Dudley Station and the Longwood Medical Area
• CT2 Sullivan Station – Ruggles Station via Kendall/M.I.T.
• CT3 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center – Andrew Station via B.U. Medical Center

References

1. Belcher, Jonathan (31 December 2011). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
2. Humphrey, Thomas J. (21 December 2012). "MBTA Commuter Rail Passenger Count Results" (PDF). Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
3. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
4. Held, Patrick R. (2010). "Massachusetts Bay Colony Railroad Track Charts" (PDF). Johns Hopkins Association for Computing Machinery. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
5. "Urban Ring Phase 2 Fact Sheet" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. January 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
6. "MBTA Ruggles Station Commuter Rail Platform Project: Legislative Briefing September 20, 2012" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 20 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
7. Jacobs Engineering (11 September 2008). "Ruggles Station Platform Study" (PDF). MASCO Inc. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
8. "Ruggles Station Platform Project". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
9. "TIGER 2014 Awards" (PDF). U.S. Department of Transportation. September 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
10. "Future Construction Contract Bid Solicitations". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016.

External links

• MBTA - Ruggles
• MBTA - Ruggles Station Platform Project
• Forsyth Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Ruggles Street entrance to Orange Line from Google Maps Street View