MBTA warns of commuter rail delays after freight train derailment

AYER, Mass. — The MBTA is warning riders of possible commuter rail delays along the Fitchburg Line after a CSX Transportation freight train derailed in Ayer on Thursday morning.

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Nine empty freight cars toppled over in the Ayer rail yard in Devins near Groton Harvard Road, according to the Ayer Fire Department and CSX.

“Fitchburg Line trains are now able to operate through the Ayer area. Delays may still occur due to a disabled freight train near Ayer,” the MBTA wrote in a post on X.

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Ayer derailment

Drone video captured by a Boston 25 News photographer showed crews assessing the wreckage of the derailment. It wasn’t immediately clear how crews planned to re-rail the train cars.

There were no reported injuries and there is no risk to the public, according to CSX.

“Usually, they’re coming down here, they’re doing ten miles an hour,” said Chief Timothy Johnston of the Ayer Fire Department. “There was no hazmat, there was no locomotive or fuel or any other hazardous commodities involved.”

One Ayer resident, known only to Boston 25 as “Frank,” said he witnessed the cars falling off the tracks.

“I was just getting out of work,” he said. “Usually I go out the back way and take the tracks.”

“The safety of our employees and the surrounding community is our highest priority as we coordinate recovery efforts and restore the area,” a CSX spokesperson said in a statement.

The cause of the derailment is under investigation.

Rail Safety Expert Carl Berkowitz said derailments can have many causes.

“Usually it’s broken rails, broken welds,” he said. “One of the big issues is human factors.”

Those might include going too fast, making a switching mistake, or having no human on board the train, such as happens in runaway situations.

It’s also possible, Berkowitz said, that the rolling stock may have a defect.

“Could be the wheel, the bearings... a broken axle,” he said.

This is the second derailment in Ayer in 18 months. In March 2023, five cars of a train loaded with trash toppled over, causing delays on the commuter rail line. But Berkowitz said that overall, rail freight carriers have a strong safety record.

“Seventeen hundred derailments (2023) for a system that’s coast-to-coast, hundreds of thousands of miles of tracks in the United States,” he said. “In one hour, there are probably more automobile accidents.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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