Jack Croww reports from the 4:40 Fitchburg express, five minutes out of North Station:

... [T]he utility closet door starts to drift open due to the swaying of the train. Seeing as I'm sitting right next to it, I reach out and give it a good shove to close it. As it clicks shut, all the power goes out on the train. ...

Channel 4 reports:

The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad is looking at making some changes after a train in Waltham started to move before three children were able to get off, separating them from their parents. ...

One Fitchburg Line commuter was apparently too tired to write to the top so he or she wrote to the side of train 429. As Tom Wheaton's photo shows, the MBCR's response was to paint over just part of the message, so it wasn't quite so offensive. Now THAT's service.

Grabauskas explains how the T will increase ridership in a BostonNow interview. Making trains and buses run on time is a big part of it, he says, which will no doubt come as welcome news to Renee Walsh, who is fuming mad at continued commuter-rail suckage, such as her train being 45 minutes late today. Alas, for Renee, a bunch of new commuter-rail cars won't be delivered until 2011.

Apparently, many had to wait 25 minutes in the cold this morning because the trains were delayed. The author compiles all the other problems with commuter rail - which include delays when it rains and when the leaves fall.

Fitchburg Line regular Gary McGath reports his train was 15 minutes late and that:

... Two of the cars were unheated, so passengers packed into the remaining cars. ...