MBTA pulls new Orange Line trains out of service to fix "braking units" issue
BOSTON -- The MBTA has pulled all of its new Orange Line trains out of service after one had a problem in its braking units.
The T says a new Orange Line train had an issue with one of its "multiple braking units" at Wellington Station Thursday morning and it broke down. Nobody was hurt, but the train was removed from service.
The one new Red Line train that was in service has also been removed out of an abundance of caution.
The T added that while it is trying to figure out what caused the problem, all new trains are being kept out of service temporarily. There's no word yet on when they'll be brought back.
"It constantly feels like one step forward, two steps back," said Mayor Michelle Wu, who attributes the issues with the T to decades of neglect and underinvestment. "We can't just keep putting band-aids on the situation. We have to find the revenue streams, the collective will, the plan to keep things going."
Orange Line service will continue with older trains, but wait times will be longer.
The MBTA has made a $2 billion investment in the Orange and Red Lines. The agency has said t here will be 152 new Orange Line cars in service by 2022.
In March, one of the new Orange Line trains derailed in Medford near Wellington Station. There were about 100 passengers who were quickly taken off the train and evaluated by firefighters, although none were injured.
A T official said an investigation into the March derailment shows all of the new cars were "acting abnormally" and the problem got worse as mileage on the cars started to add up.
Jarred Johnson of the group TransitMatters is happy with the MBTA's transparency on the issue, but hopes in the future, the state can do more than bandage every break.
"It is important for the T to not be careening from crisis to crisis and actually have stable funding so that when we buy the new Green Line cars that are going to be coming up soon or when we buy new Commuter Rail vehicles, that we are not just forced to go with to go with the cheapest bidder," Johnson said.