(The Boston Globe posted the following article by Michael S. Rosenwald and Mac Daniel on its website on May 20.)
BOSTON — A southbound MBTA commuter rail train carrying 200 passengers derailed during yesterday’s afternoon rush hour at a critical junction in Canton, tying up MBTA and Amtrak lines headed north and south and delaying thousands of travelers throughout the region.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the wheels on the rear section of a locomotive and the front section of its first passenger car derailed at 4:45 p.m. at the Canton Junction station, where the tracks split and trains continue to either Stoughton or Attleboro, then Providence.
No injuries were reported in the derailment, Pesaturo said, and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Amtrak officials scrambled to warn commuters of significant delays as they brought in crews to clear the tracks and worked on ways to move people along.
Investigators were trying to determine whether the derailment resulted from human or mechanical error, Pesaturo said, though the switch was being manually operated at the time of the derailment.
Last night, MBTA crews brought in a large crane to lift the 133-ton locomotive and 34-ton passenger car off the tracks. MBTA officials said they expected normal service to be restored for this morning’s commute.
The evening commute yesterday was certainly chaotic.
MBTA officials said they sent passengers on buses from South Station in Boston to the Route 128-Westwood stop. From there, passengers were bused to southern stations. Officials also put southbound passengers on
northbound tracks to Canton, then switched them to southbound tracks just past the derailment.
The derailment was particularly damaging for the MBTA because the Attleboro line is its most popular commuter route.
In fiscal year 2001, some 16,450 commuters used the Attleboro/Providence line on a daily basis, according to the latest MBTA statistics.
Amtrak stopped seven trains at various stations and spots along its Northeast corridor, including New Haven.
More than two hours into the delays, Amtrak officials combined three southbound trains from South Station into one train that took an inland route through the corridor. They bused northbound passengers to the Route 128, Back Bay, and South Station stops. Some southbound passengers also were bused.
Just after 7 p.m., passengers on a northbound Amtrak Acela train were let out about a quarter mile from the Canton Junction station, and they walked there, lugging their bags.
Many had young children. Several people raced for a few waiting cabs, but most of the three dozen or so passengers were left looking for answers.
At that point, no officials were around to provide information.
”Nobody is telling us anything,” said Dona Andrukaitis of Austin, Texas, who was on her way to visit family in Methuen. ”We were told there would be a rescue train and that buses were coming, but so far nothing.”
She added: ”I’m an angry lady.”
Ledyard McFadden of Beverly was headed to New York. He took a more philosophical approach to his travel problems.
”You can get real stressed out, but I’m not sure what that would do,” he said.