Boston subway train leaves station with passengers, no driver

At a news conference, Governor Charlie Baker said that the operator stepped off the train at 6:08 a.m.at the Braintree station on the MBTA’s Red Line to examine a signal that was experiencing a problem.

MBTA Chief Operating Officer Jeff Gonneville said the transit agency became aware within 60 seconds that this train had left Braintree station without an operator, and nine minutes later, they were able to bring the train to a stop by killing the power to the third rail.

“At first, we received information it was a gunshot and somebody hurt”, Daly said. Authorities are interviewing witnesses and the trains operator.

Pollack said the operator felt there was a “signal issue” and asked for permission to put the train into “bypass mode”, which allows the train to depart the station.

The train went through four stations before it came to a halt past the North Quincy stop.

A Boston subway train that traveled multiple stops with no operator aboard Thursday morning was “tampered with”, officials said.

The employee suffered a minor injury when he was brushed by the train as it moved away from the station, transit officials said.

“From what we can tell at this point, it appears to be an isolated incident”, he said.

Baker earlier said an inspection showed some of the controls were manipulated, enabling the train to be set in forward motion.

The MBTA says it is investigating a “serious incident” on the Red Line south of Boston Thursday morning. He said the Blue Line has been operated by one driver since the late 1990s and Orange Line trains have had a single operator since 2009.

Lee said the train was not traveling at a high rate of speed.

The train started moving after the operator left it on Thursday. That practice was ended in 2011, in part as a cost-saving measure. “It is a procedure that is used regularly and safely when appropriate procedures are followed”. Where is this guy?'” said Karrie Mohammed, a passenger.

A passenger on the train told CNN Boston affiliate WHDH that the lights went out and the train eventually stopped.

Transit personnel boarded the train after it was stopped and drove it to the JFK/UMass stop, where passengers disembarked. “We have been in contact with MBTA Transit Police”, she added in a statement.

The operator has been put on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation, Pollack said.