MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - The Orange Line service is resuming regularly Friday morning after a loose sheet metal caused a fire to erupt Thursday morning that left 200 passengers screaming and leaping out windows to safety.

As service resumes, calls for the T to do better are coming from riders to the governor.

“Obviously today was just a colossal failure,” said Baker. “Today we all get an F. Let’s face it.”

The Orange Line fire was just the latest in a string of MBTA incidents this year, including a fatal accident on a Red Line train in April and a battery explosion at the Wellington train yard earlier this summer that prompted the organization to temporarily pull newer Orange and Red Line cars.

In June, the Federal Transit Administration stated that the MBTA needed to “raise the bar on safety” and instituted deadlines for the transit organization to meet.

“Part of why the FTA’s role in this is so important is because they will give us a lot of the guidance and experience that comes from being an entity that overseas and manages and knows the way that people approach these issues across the country,” said Baker.

Senator Ed Markey took to Twitter to cast blame at the foot of Baker, stating “This is unacceptable. Years of neglect and mismanagement have put MBTA riders in danger’s path. We need immediate action from the Governor to ensure safety as we resume full service. Anything less is a further abdication of leadership.”

While Baker decried the MBTA’s onslaught of incidents, the governor said he still believes the MBTA does a satisfactory job overall.

“Incidents like this are horrifying and unacceptable and do tremendous damage to the work that the T does generally all the time,” said Baker.

A loose piece of metal that collided with the third rail was the cause behind an Orange Line fire that left passengers screaming and leaping out windows to safety, according to MBTA officials.

The train was over the Mystic River when a loose piece of metal siding collided with the third rail, providing the spark to ignite the train car.

“It detached enough so that it came in contact with the third rail,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “The third rail is quite low. Once you had contact with the third rail you had a number of arching, sparking incidents.”

At least 200 passengers had to escape the enflamed train car, leaping out of windows to the safety of the tracks.

“People started yelling ‘Fire! Fire!’ then everybody started rushing toward the back,” said Mike Faricy.

Once free of the burning train car, rider had to walk almost 2,000 feet to the nearby Wellington Station.

One woman disembarked the train and proceeded to jump into the river below. According to MBTA officials, she refused medical help.

The train has since been moved off the tracks and the incident remains under investigation.

“I want to offer my apology to the folks who were on that train,” said Poftak. “We’ve done a great deal of work to have more inspections to have third party inspections, so its extraordinarily frustrating when these types of incidents happen but I think we have to take responsibility.”

The MBTA said no one reported being hurt.

“This stuff was completely unacceptable,” said Baker. “I’m glad the FTA will be a part of the investigation and the follow-up and we’ll make sure that we do whatever they ask us to do to respond to this.”

According to MBTA officials, the train car was last inspected in June and is part of the 1980 fleet that was expected to be phased out of service in the near future.

Riders who were forced to evacuate are hoping lessons were learned.

“They need a better system. I take this train every day to and from work,” said Michelle Barone, who escaped the train Thursday. “It’s always something with these trains.”

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