Ruggles station

Stony Brook Dance in 2021

Two "very different" pieces of public art were installed in the station as part of the Arts on the Line program:[10][11]

• Stony Brook Dance, by John T. Scott, is an aluminum abstract kinetic sculpture suspended inside the west end of the concourse. Thirty colorful geometric tubes are attached to three stainless steel cables, allowing them to sway in the wind. The work, commissioned in 1986 and completed in 1989, combines imagery of diddley bows and wave physics.[12][13]
• Geom-a-tree, by Paul Goodnight, Elaine Sayoko Yoneoka, Stephanie Jackson St. Germain, and Emmanuel Genovese, is a ceramic tile and stained glass mural located above the eastern exit from the concourse. Twenty-six feet (7.9 m) wide and 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, it forms a colorful collage of Asian and African-American faces and symbols. The work was installed in 1990–91. Painter Goodnight and ceramics artist Yoneoka met in court while the two were separately pursuing lawsuits regarding illegal destruction of their previous works.[14][15][16]

The western wall of the station was covered with mural by Sivia López Chavez in 2019. The work – part of a Northeastern University art program – depicts a woman blowing bubbles on a brightly colored backdrop.[17]

Ruggles was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring – a circumferential bus rapid transit (BRT) line designed to connect the existing radial MBTA rail lines to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations.[21] Under draft plans released in 2008, the Urban Ring would have approached Ruggles from the west on a reserved surface right-of-way on the north side of Ruggles Street. Buses would have used the existing bus loop; the existing side access from Tremont Street would have connected to dedicated bus lanes on Melnea Cass Boulevard.[22] The project was cancelled in 2010.[23]

The deteriorated and closed northern half of the existing commuter rail platform (left) and the under-construction second commuter rail platform in 2019

A number of smaller projects in the Urban Ring corridor have been approved; among them was adding a second commuter rail platform to serve Track 2 at Ruggles, thus allowing all commuter rail trains to stop there. Until 2021, about 30% of inbound commuter rail trains bypassed the station, as reaching the platform required crossing over to Track 1 or Track 3. The MBTA began consideration of a second platform in 1993, just six years after Ruggles opened.[9][24] A preliminary study in 2008 recommended a full-length 800-foot platform located entirely east of the busway bridge.[25]

The MBTA began holding public meetings in 2012. By this time, plans called for the new platform to be located next to the existing platform. It was to be split in two sections connected by a short pedestrian tunnel under the busway bridge; the gap would be short enough to allow all doors on a train to still open onto the platform.[26] 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 would include lighting and security upgrades, elevator improvements, and rehabilitation of the deteriorated northern half of the existing platform, which was blocked off from use.[27]

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 set to begin in late 2016 and last through 2018.[26] In December 2016, the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board approved a $1.6 million expansion of the project scope to include reconstruction of the lower busway, elevator replacements, additional station entrances, an additional busway elevator, and other accessibility improvements.[28] Bidding took place in May and June 2017; on June 26, the Board approved a $19.7 million construction contract (lower than the $22 million projected cost).[29]

A groundbreaking ceremony for the project, which was expected to cost $38.5 million in total, was held on August 22, 2017.[30][31] Construction was then planned to last from 2017 to 2019.[28] Reconstruction of the lower busway began in April 2018.[32] Replacement of the first two of four station elevators (the Orange Line platform elevator and the Forsyth Street elevator) began on November 12, 2019.[33][34] The Orange Line elevator was completed on March 1, 2021, with the commuter rail platform elevator then closing for replacement.[35] The new commuter rail platform opened on April 5, 2021 – in connection with new schedules that had all trains stopping at Ruggles – with the new busway elevator opening the same week.[36][37] The Forsyth Street elevator reopened on May 11, 2021.[38] The Commuter Rail elevator ultimately reopened on December 6, 2021, with the remainder of the project including the rebuilt busway elevator completed later that month.[39][40]

A second phase of the project is planned. The Columbus Avenue entrance will be made accessible, with a covered ramp to the concourse and an improved pathway to the lower busway. A new footbridge will be constructed between the lower busway and the commuter rail island platform; the northeast portion of that platform will be restored (as had been planned in the first phase). A new ramp will connect the Orange Line platform to the northeast side of the concourse, with a new set of faregates added there, and the exit-only stairs from the platform will be rebuilt.[41] Design reached 100% in August 2022; due to inflation and other factors, projected construction costs were $25 million higher than planned. The agency is seeking additional funding, and may split the work into two contracts, with code compliance and accessibility prioritized.[42] As of October 2023, Phase II is expected to cost $80 million and begin construction in spring 2024.[43]