Articles Posted in MBTA Accident

The MBTA has announced publicly that a compromised axle led to a Red Line derailment in June that injured one person and has led to painful commuting delays for hundreds of thousands of subway riders since. They also admitted that unsafe elements of the train that were not caught by safety inspections contributed to the derailment. If you were injured or suffered any other lingering negative effects (such as post-traumatic stress disorder) as a result of the train derailment, contact the Cambridge personal injury experts at Altman & Altman LLP for a free consultation today.

In addition to the axle being of significant age – 27 years old without being replaced – the MBTA missed crucial warning signs that an accessory part nearby the axle was compromised, which they concluded through an investigation played a role in the failure of the axle, and caused the train derailment.

While routine inspections have occurred once every two years to detect the sorts of problems which ultimately led to the failure of this axle – in this case another part on the underside of the train known as a “ground ring”, which regulates electrical flow from the rail and dissipates it throughout the body of the train, had become damaged and allowed electricity to flow through the axle, weakening it to the point where it failed.

Other inspections that occurred during the course of the year did not check either the ground ring or the axle, but once the investigation launched into the cause of the incident, it became clear there was a serious problem with the ground ring that should perhaps have been caught sooner.

A normal, functioning ground ring is sealed from outside elements and should resemble a smooth, clean piece of steel. The ground ring that was examined from the train that derailed was revealed to be badly corroded and damaged through an exposure to outside elements such as grease and dirt, which in turn allowed an electrical flow to arc through the axle while the train was running, weakening it.

Amazingly, just one month before the derailment in May of 2019, the train that would eventually derail was inspected and had two separate parts replaced – but unfortunately nobody caught the damaged ground ring or noticed anything abnormal about the axle. Continue reading

An MBTA driver and seven passengers were injured yesterday when their bus crashed through a guardrail over the Massachusetts Turnpike in Newton.

Authorities say the bus crashed through the guardrail of an overpass on Washington Street at Newton Corner and could be seen from exit 17. Emergency responders at the scene said that there was no threat of the bus ever falling down onto the state highway.

Passengers as well as the bus driver were treated at the scene, and some were taken to area hospitals for further evaluation. State Police and MBTA officials are investigating the crash.

This is the second MBTA bus accident in less than a week. Last Tuesday, several passengers were injured when the bus they were traveling on veered off of the road and crashed into a utility pole in Randolph, according to WCVB.

Joe Pesaturo, a spokesperson for the MBTA said that the #240 bus, which was traveling on Route 28, did in fact strike a utility pole and that several passengers were injured in the accident. Passengers of the crash suffered minor injures-some of which reported experiencing neck and back pain.
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An Orange Line train at Malden Center struck and killed a 41-year-old woman on Monday. She was standing on the platform around 1:30 p.m. when she was hit. She fell into the tracks and was later pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Transit police detectives are conducting an investigation. Authorities did not say whether this was a suicide or an accident.

Source: The Boston Globe, Woman, 41, struck and killed by Orange Line train in Malden, officials say

If you have suffered an injury in an MBTA accident, call Altman & Altman LLP. We can help you to work out your claim. We have successfully brought claims against the MBTA for almost 50 years.
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On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority released dozens of documents related to the 2009 trolley crash that injured dozens of passengers and caused over a million dollars in estimated damage. The MBTA has blamed the train accident on driver inattentiveness, but the NTSB is still examining probable causes. Its report may not be ready for another several months.

According to the documents released earlier this week, MBTA workers said there was zero warning before the Green Line trolley slammed into the train in front of it, knocking passengers off their feet. The accident occurred in a tunnel between Government Center and Park Street on the Green Line.

The operator involved in the subway accident, who had been texting his girlfriend at the time, was initially charged with a felony, but his lawyers successfully argued against those charges. Prosecutors brought new charges of gross negligence against him, and he now awaits trial in Suffolk Superior Court. Here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the penalty for gross negligence is a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than two and a half years.

Source: MBTA driver: No warning in 2009 Green Line crash, Boston Globe, November 10, 2010
MBTA operators detail ’09 crash, Boston Globe, November 11, 2010 Continue reading

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police are investigating a trolley accident that killed a 22-year-old Boston University graduate early Sunday morning. The Brighton man was found in the gauge of the eastbound tracks on the D Line between the Longwood and Fenway stops and pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

A spokesperson for the MBTA said it was unclear why he was inside a fenced off area. Brookline Police and fire departments and the EMS responded to the emergency call.

Unfortunately, this is not the MBTA accident in recent years. In July, an eight-year-old girl was injured after her foot was stuck in an escalator at the MBTA’s Aquarium stop. That same month, a commuter rail train in Wilmington hit and killed a Billerica man. And in April of this year, a Green Line trolley killed a 23-year-old bicyclist.

It is standard MBTA procedure to administer a drug test to the driver following an accident. The driver may also be subject to disciplinary action if he or she was found to be texting behind the wheel.

Source: BU graduate hit and killed by Green Line train early this morning, Boston Globe, October 24, 2010 Continue reading