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WEBVTT Joe aiello chairs the MBTA's Fisc and management control board-- he's in charge of transforming the nation's oldest and most troubled transit system. This morning.. a WHEEL came off this commuter train.. causing it to derail on the Waltham-Belmont line Passenger Jim Jarvie says passengers saw the wheel roll away-- felt the train tilt to one side and shake violently... Until HE reached up and pulled the emergency brake. None of the 800 passengers on board was hurt. But they were badly shaken and inconvenienced. At panel discussion hosted by Commonwealth magazine tonight.. Aiello reassured a packed room that a 15 yr project is underway to repair and upgrade the system-- the state now spending 3 times the annual money it has in the past Aiello says despite setbacks like tpday.. Commuters will see improvements month to month. The goal-- a premiere world class transit system That meets Boston's growing economy .. Aiello went on to say in the shor run, the MBTA has been working since August to prep the system for winter. Long term-- he says A study is due next fall that explores eventually expanding Boston's commuter service so it rivals the systems in London, Pari

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A wheel came off a Commuter Rail train, causing a derailment on the Fitchburg Line Tuesday morning, Keolis Commuter Services confirmed. The company, which operates the Commuter Rail system for the MBTA, said the problem derailed the coach car from train 404 around 7:45 a.m. None of the 800 passengers or members of the train crew were injured."It was going at a pretty good clip when, all of a sudden, there was a clunk underneath the car that I was riding in," said passenger Rudy VanVeghten.Passenger Jim Jarvie said that a woman told him she saw the wheel roll away from the train, then he saw sparks and fire from underneath the car."We were hoping that the conductor, or somebody, knew and the train would stop," Jarvie said. "It just didn't stop, so everybody got really concerned that something really bad could be happening."Jarvie said the train tilted to one side and violently shook for about a minute, until he reached up and pulled the emergency brake.Passengers were ultimately transferred to other trains to complete their morning commute. A crane was used to rerail the car, which was taken to Boston Engine Terminal to be inspected."The vehicle in question and all associated components will be quarantined in order to conduct a detailed engineering analysis," Keolis wrote in a statement. Keolis said that Commuter Rail coach cars, including the wheels, are inspected daily. "As a result of this incident and as a precautionary measure, an inspection of all coaches with the same equipment is now underway and is expected to be complete before the start of the evening commute," Keolis wrote. "Additionally, the track where this occurred has been inspected to ensure the continued safe passage of trains through this area."Residual delays on the Fitchburg Line are expected to be resolved before the evening commute, officials said. “The safety of our customers and our employees is our highest priority,” MBTA General Manager Luis Manuel Ramírez said in a statement provided by Keolis. “We appreciate our passengers’ patience and cooperation during this incident, and I want to thank our teams for their efforts to restore Commuter Rail to full service.”"It's a really unfortunate situation that we inherited with this incredible dis-investment in the system," said Joe Aiello, the chair of the MBTA's fiscal and management control board. "The good news is, we have tripled our expenditure to about $900 million a year. We're on our way to over $1 billion a year, and we are fully funded over the next five years.Aiello said commuters will see improvements month to month, with the goal of premiering a world-class transit system that meets Boston's growing economy."We're going to be moving into a future where we have trains coming every three minutes with 95 percent on-time performance," Aiello said.