Commuter rail operators apologize for delays

By Globe Staff

The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Inc., which runs the commuter lines, is apologizing for delays this morning on the Worcester/Framingham Line.

The company said in an email to customers that a system-wide outage in the communications system for CSX Corp., the freight train company that dispatches trains on the line, had caused a "cascade effect of delays."

The company also said that one train had to proceed into Boston without lights or air conditioning.

"We offer our sincere apologies to the passengers," the company said. But it also said that "if the choice is to cancel a scheduled trip, especially considering the CSX communication problem, or run the train without lights and air conditioning, the train will make its scheduled trip."

CSX officials didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

Bob Sullivan, a spokesman for CSX, said a software glitch had affected the freight company's communication system from 5 a.m. to about 7:40 a.m. By 9 a.m. everything was back to normal, he said.

"Everything has been resolved and corrected," he said.

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