MBTA Inspects All Orange Line Trains After 'Chaotic' State Street Incident
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority says all Orange Line trains have been inspected after an exterior metal panel fell off a train in Boston's State Street station.
Smoke filled the station Tuesday night after the train and another behind it ran over the panel on the tracks. Both trains became disabled and passengers were evacuated.
Passengers kicked open at least one window to escape. No injuries were reported.
"It was chaotic," passenger Danny Vieux told WBZ-TV on Tuesday night. "It sounded like a bomb. People were really scared. People were panicking, they were running around, they were breaking windows."
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said Wednesday that all 120 Orange Line trains were inspected overnight and while none failed, exterior panels on 13 of the cars were reinforced as a precaution.
Pesaturo says inspections of exterior panels will now be added to regularly-scheduled vehicle maintenance work.
The trains have been in service since 1979. They are slated for replacement in 2018.
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