Riders open emergency doors, climb fence after commuter rail train loses power during rush hour

Commuter rail passengers climbed over a fence and left their train after a power issue brought the locomotive to a halt west of Boston Landing during the Monday evening commute on Aug. 1, 2022.Leo Ruiz

Passengers opened emergency doors and some climbed a nearby fence to find their own way home after a commuter rail train broke down on its way out of the city Monday evening.

Framingham Line Train 595 came to a halt west of the Boston Landing station at about 6 p.m. “due to an electrical issue with the locomotive,” the MBTA said in a statement. The train had departed South Station at 5:35 p.m., the agency said.

One passenger, Leo Ruiz, said the train sat without power for more than an hour. Ruiz posted a video on Twitter that showed some passengers using two ladders, provided by residents in the area, to climb over a fence that runs along the tracks so they could access a nearby street.

“Some passengers on @MBTA_CR train forced open doors to get out & climbed the fence with a little help from neighbors,” Ruiz wrote in the tweet.

Some passengers on ⁦@MBTA_CR⁩ train forced open doors to get out & climbed the fence with a little help from neighbors. The Framingham Line train has been stopped for more than an hour with no power. pic.twitter.com/Vp7uSsZR4i

— Leo Ruiz (@ProducerLeo) August 1, 2022

Some passengers took to social media and said the train was getting hot as it sat there with no power and, therefore, no air conditioning.

In its statement, the MBTA said workers had discouraged passengers from exiting the powerless train.

“Due to the location where Train 595 was stopped, it was determined that the safest option was for passengers to remain on board,” the MBTA’s statement said. “Although urged by the Keolis train crew to not exit the train, some passengers decided to use the emergency door handles and exit the train.

“The MBTA and Keolis understand that passengers were frustrated while the train was stopped without electricity to enable air-conditioning or announcements, but the safest alternative in such a situation is to keep passengers on board.”

Another train, Worcester Line Train 528, was brought in to help bring the broken-down train back to Boston Landing, where the remaining passengers transferred to another train bound for Worcester, the T said.

No further information was immediately available Monday night.