After significant delays in Wednesday afternoon and evening’s commute on the MBTA Commuter Rail’s Franklin line, rail operator Keolis posted a letter of apology on its corporate website apologizing to riders for the extended delays.
The letter, published by Keolis and sent to riders via the MBTA Commuter Rail Twitter account, detailed the numerous mishaps in the commute on Wednesday evening.
Among them, Keolis lists:
- Franklin Line Train #715 experiencing mechanical issues that crews were unable to fix.
- Train #717 sent out to connect with #715, but the trains suffered technical issues with the connection that caused the trains to move at a significantly slower speed.
- As a result of the slower speed, the trains needed to make two stops at each station to de-board.
- Because of these issues, train officials made the "difficult decision to de-board passengers" at the Norwood Central stop, which did not have adequate cover, forcing many riders to wait in the rain.
- A train waiting at the station, train #737, was waiting at Norwood Central but did not have enough room for all riders.
- Train #719 picked up all of the remaining passengers, but signal problems for the rest of the trip caused a significant slowdown.
Keolis says that 10 trains were delayed by multiple issues and apologized to riders for the mishaps.
"We know there is no apology or explanation that can replace the time you lost as the result of these issues," Keolis said in its statement. "However, we want you to know that we are very sorry for what has been a terrible commuting week on the Franklin Line and are taking a close look at how we can improve our performance."
It was the second day of issues on the Franklin line. On Tuesday, the line experienced significant delays after a 13-year-old was struck and killed in Dedham.
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