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Wheel From Metro-North Train Falls Off Tracks In Connecticut

NEW CANAAN, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Officials say no injuries were reported after a Metro-North Railroad train carrying no passengers derailed in New Canaan and caused delays for up to an hour on Thursday.

Metro-North officials say crew members on board were not harmed when a wheel left the tracks while the train was being moved into the New Canaan rail yard around 7 a.m. Thursday.

State Sen. Toni Boucher, a Wilton Republican and member of the General Assembly's Transportation Committee, says the incident is still worrisome because the train should not have been going off the tracks.

"That particular line gets a lot of rail riders, not just in Connecticut, but also in New York," Boucher said. 

Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan says the rail service is investigating the incident. A National Transportation Board spokesman says the federal agency will not conduct an additional investigation of its own.

Boucher said that there has been significant improvements to the rail safety system under the leadership of Metro-North president Joe Giuletti, who succeeded former president Howard Permut in 2014, WCBS 880's Fran Schneidau reported.

Commuters experienced delays because the disabled train was blocking rail traffic.

In 2013, a Metro-North train on the same line collided with another train, leaving  at least 60 people injured -- five of them critically.

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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