In ep.8 they finally explained what the pesistent imagery of ruins was.

It means "ruins of the past" (I forgot what it was originally, but I thought it was an ok translation. Not that I would know anything.). But did they seriously expect anyone to figure it out? In case of Chihiro I thought that the trains have stopped arriving at the station at the time of her accident and the piles of garbage we just, you know, naturally occuring. I guess in ef there's nothing naturally occuring — except in-jokes and references.