The MBTA has once again removed its new Orange Line trains from service - this time for an "uncommon noise."
On Tuesday, the MBTA told Boston 25 News that engineers recently noticed an "uncommon noise from the underside of the cars." Officials decided to temporarily remove the new cars from service out of an abundance of caution as they investigate the issue.
The T's general manager, Steve Poftak, initially said delays on the Orange and Red lines Tuesday morning were due to mechanical problems, but a statement issued hours later by the MBTA confirmed the issue as noise coming from under the cars.
"There were notified by several people there were some issues associated with the new trains and they made a decision to take them out of service because they didn't know what the issue was. They pursued a safety-first strategy which I would support," said Governor Charlie Baker.
Riders, however, are frustrated.
"This wasn't a good investment. This is new electronic and all this. I feel like they're taking advantage of the consumers because we really have to ride the trains. We have to get to work and so we're stuck in a bind," said rider Don Haynesworth.
These are the same new Orange Line cars that were added this summer and had to be removed from service in September due to door issues.
Related: Door problems appear to be latest issue causing MBTA delays
And just last month, one of the new cars derailed while traveling through a rail yard at a low rate of speed as it passed over a switch, an MBTA spokesperson said at the time. The T said that incident is still under investigation.
"It still feels as if the T, the leadership at the governor's office isn't recognizing just how urgent this is to people's lives," said Boston city councilor at-large Michelle Wu.
Wu, who rides the T every day, says people are at a breaking point and if could affect our climate and our economy if frustrated people move away from the city.
"Time and time again, commuters have been disappointed and frustrated and at a certain point, it won't matter to a lot of people anymore because they would have given up on the system and the last thing we need is for people to turn to driving," she said.
The MBTA says it hopes to resolve the issue quickly and return the cars to service.
The T's plan is to replace the entire aging Orange Line fleet with 152 new trains by 2022 in a $2 billion investment project. The new vehicles are being built by the Chinese-owned company CRRC at a manufacturing plant in Springfield.
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