Train derailment disrupts schedules

No one injured; no cause found

Commuters were delayed yesterday after Train 614 from Needham derailed about 1:30 p.m., when two of its six cars skipped off their tracks near the South Station platform. (BILL BRETT FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

Tara McLaughlin ran through South Station, frantic over the news that her commuter train to Franklin had been canceled.

"I got to get a baby from day care," she said, as she ran to find an alternate train, her purse sliding off her shoulder and a pink cellphone to her ear.

"I've got a 15-month-old."

McLaughlin disappeared into a large rush-hour crowd of people in a similar bind. Commuters were delayed yesterday after Train 614 from Needham derailed about 1:30 p.m., when two of its six cars skipped off their tracks as the train neared the South Station platform.

Fifty-five people were on board, but there were no reports of injuries, said Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad, which runs the commuter rail for the MBTA.

The accident caused massive rush-hour delays, with tracks 1 through 6 at the station closed for much of the afternoon.

Four of the 13 tracks remained closed at 6:30 p.m. yesterday, and officials were still trying to figure out the cause of the problem.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in an e-mail that investigators were "closely examining switch points in the system of tracks and signals."

Transit Police stood at the train boarding areas at the closed tracks, ushering people away.

Over the loudspeaker, a muffled, barely understandable voice repeatedly said: "Due to a track problem at South Station, we are expecting delays."

Pesaturo said three of the 150 late afternoon rush-hour train runs were canceled. They were on the Worcester, Stoughton, and Fairmount lines.

Officials said other delays varied from train to train, but did not exceed 30 minutes.

That was little comfort to Maureen Riley, who was among many employees from Tufts Medical Center who arrived at the station and learned about the derailment.

She was not happy. She pays $163 a month for her commuter pass, she said, and doesn't feel that it is a good deal.

"The trains are chronically late, filthy, and falling apart," she said. "Now I have no idea when I'm getting home."

Many people milled about the station talking urgently on cellphones, rearranging plans, and figuring out alternative routes home.

"It's very inconvenient," said Tom MacDonnell, a computer programmer whose train to Providence was canceled and who did not get home until 7 p.m. "Stuff like this happens more and more frequently."

Mark Aronovitz, a researcher at Tufts, said he doesn't like the delays, but wouldn't let them get him down.

"I'm missing din din, which is important to me," he said rubbing his stomach. "But it's still better than driving in traffic."