Boston subway train operates without driver

A train on the Boston “T” subway system’s Red Line that was carrying 50 passengers left a station without an operator on Thursday, The Associated Press reports. 

The train traveled through four stations before it was able to be brought to a halt, according to the report. The AP said no one was injured in the incident. 

Officials with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which runs the Boston subway system, raised the possibility that someone tampered with the the train’s operator cab, according to the report. 

{mosads}”Passenger safety is the highest priority for the MBTA and this highly troubling incident is under investigation by Transit Police detectives,” MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola said in a statement, according to the AP. 

MBTA officials said the train was brought to halt by cutting off power to its electrified third rail, according to the report. 

The train operated between the Braintree and JFK/UMass station on the Boston’s “T” Red Line without a driver before before it stopped and taken out of service, the report said. 

The Boston “T” is the fourth busiest subway system in the U.S., trailing only the New York City subway, the Washington, D.C., Metrorail system and the Chicago “L” in terms of ridership. 

The Boston subway carries approximately 560,00 people per day and 174 million each year, according to statistics compiled by the American Public Transportation Association.