Major delays swept across the Newburyport/Rockport Line during Thursday morning’s commute after a “low-voltage electrical issue” disabled a train, according to commuter rail operator Keolis.
The State House News Service reported that an electrical problem on an inbound train near Salem around 7:45 a.m. created sparks inside the locomotive, Keolis spokesman Tory Mazzola said in an email. The MBTA and Keolis continue to investigate the incident.
“There was no fire but given the electrical nature there were sparks,” Mazzola wrote. “This incident has caused delays on the Newburyport and Rockport lines. Passengers should stay connected to Twitter and T-Alerts for service updates.” The MBTA Commuter Rail’s Twitter feed warned of “significant residual delays in both directions” on the Newburyport/Rockport Line, some up to an hour long, and said the disabled train was assisted by the subsequent locomotive.
Another Keolis spokesman, Justin Thompson, said passengers on the disabled train “were informed by the crew that another train would assist them into Boston.” That “double-draft” resumed travel around 8:50 a.m., he said.
Frustrated passengers took to Twitter to report sitting on trains without power or heat following the incident. “(A)fter an hour of no updates, no heat, people have decided to push their way off the train and walk back to station,” @marthacarl wrote on Twitter, tagging the MBTA’s commuter rail account, Gov. Charlie Baker and the Boston Globe.
