Passengers evacuated two MBTA Orange Line trains at the State Street Station after they filled with smoke Tuesday night.
The MBTA reported that there were major delays in both directions due to disabled trains.
The Boston Fire Chief said damage to the third rail compounded with a piece of sheet metal on the rail, which caused the electrical motor to overheat. There was no fire but the heat caused smoke to fill the cars.
The MBTA said in a statement that passengers evacuated in an orderly manner.
A second train which was six minutes late also also struck a piece of the body panel, causing the train to fill with smoke.
Because the train was not completely at the platform, doors would not open, so passengers began kicking out windows to evacuate.
However, there were no injuries reported.
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The MBTA says a full inspection will be done before trains run Wednesday morning.
