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Orange Line operator removed from train after making unusual remarks

David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/file

It wasn’t a great day for T riders.

The commuter rail saw problems as people headed home on the Stoughton Line Monday afternoon.

Outbound Train 913 on the Stoughton Line was stopped near Hyde Park due to a mechanical issue, at about 3:45 p.m., said Tory Mazzola, a spokesman for Keolis, which operates commuter rail for the MBTA. The train was still stopped at about 5:20 p.m.

Mazzola said the train was “unable to take power. Mechanical teams are working to resolve it as quickly as possible and dispatchers are focused on minimizing the impact to passengers.”

Outbound Train 915 from South Station was expected to assist Train 913 and was expected to fall 35 to 45 minutes behind its schedule, the T said on its Twitter feed.

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Inbound Train 914 from Stoughton was also canceled due to a mechanical issue. Train 916 was also expected to be behind schedule, according to the feed.

Franklin Line Train 744 was also 5 to 10 minutes behind schedule.

On the bus routes, too, a number of delays were reported for the afternoon commute.

In the morning, there were delays when a train operator on the MBTA’s Orange Line was removed from his train car Monday morning after he made some unusual statements, said Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman.

The man was removed from his train when it arrived at the Downtown Crossing station around 8 a.m., causing delays of about 10 minutes during the morning commute, Pesaturo said in an e-mail. He called the operator’s statements “uncommon remarks.”

Richard Sullivan, superintendent of Transit Police, said in an e-mail that the operator had suffered a medical emergency.

“It’s a personnel matter, and as such, it will be handled internally,” Pesaturo said. “The MBTA apologizes to any of its customers who found the incident disquieting.”

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Some passengers took to social media to express their frustration and confusion over the operator’s comments.

One woman, whose name on Facebook is Rhea Nannan, said the operator complained about T management and claimed to have been a victim of discrimination.

“He wants to take a political stand on a Monday morning?” she said.

“He’s just standing on the train on the intercom saying no one is going anywhere... no one is going to work... that the T is discriminating against him,” Nannan said in a comment on her own Facebook post. “He said he needs assistance.”

Danni Parker, another passenger, said the operator told people he did not want to keep driving because of safety concerns.

“Commuter problems: having the orange line conductor admit that he was afraid to drive the train because it was deemed ‘unsafe’ at downtown crossing at 8:05 with my stop only two stops away,” Parker said in a Facebook post.

MBTA subway supervisors are investigating, Pesaturo said.


Andres Picon can be reached at andres.picon@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @andpicon. Katie Camero can be reached at katie.camero@globe.com.