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Commuters Furious With MBTA Over Delays Due To Cold, Other Factors

BOSTON (CBS) - The first bitter cold day of the winter left some MBTA commuters with a bitter taste Wednesday morning.

Several trains were hit with long delays because of mechanical failure in the single-digit temperatures, among other factors.

"This morning, there were two gate failures (in Franklin & Weymouth), a CSX signal failure on the Worcester line (outside control of MBTA/MBCR), a mechanical failure on the Attleboro/Providence line (Train 801), and an air hose problem on a Fitchburg train (Train 410)," said Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for MBCR.

Despite the delays, Farmelant said trains were on time 87.5% of the time during the Wednesday morning commute.

The T, though, was inundated with complaints on Twitter Wednesday morning.

A year ago, the MBTA took a massive public relations hit for similar failures when bitter cold had a major impact on the air brakes of several trains.

It should be noted that in December 2011, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad posted its best single-month of performance since June of 2009 with an on time percentage of 92.8%.

Were you affected by the delays? Comment below with your story!

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