Articles Posted in MBTA Accident

On Sunday morning, a Green Line trolley and a car collided, shutting down MBTA service on the B line for about an hour. No one on the trolley was injured, but the driver was treated for a cut on his head at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brighton.

The car accident occurred around 8:30am at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Lake Street. MBTA officials claim the driver ran a red light and crashed into the train. Trolley service was restored an hour later, and an MBTA bus was called to transport riders in the interim.

Authorities are still investigating the MBTA crash.

Source: Green Line Trolley, Car Collide In Brighton, WBZTV.com, January 10, 2010 Continue reading

Last week, a 59-year-old Massachusetts man was injured after reportedly jumping from a moving commuter train in Central Square. The train was headed to Rockport, and the man is apparently homeless and living in Revere.

A representative from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said the train accident occurred just before 9pm on Thursday evening, when the man leapt from the train, lost his footing, and feel between the platform and the train as it began to move again. The MBTA accident victim reportedly injured his left arm and was given first aid by passengers. Commuter train service resumed at 11:20pm that night.

As of last Friday, the train accident victim was in serious condition at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital.

Source: Train accident victim identified as Revere homeless man, ItemLive.com, January 8, 2010 Continue reading

Last Tuesday afternoon, bus service replaced trains after a subway car derailment on the MBTA’s Red Line. The accident occurred at the Alewife MBTA station in Cambridge when the fourth of a six-car train leaving Alewife derailed. According to a spokesperson for the MBTA, 65 passengers were safely evacuated after the train derailed.

The MBTA used bus replacement service between Harvard Station and Alewife for the remainder of the day, and train service out of Alewife had resumed by 5am the following day, albeit with 10-15 minute delays.

According to Cambridge’s Deputy Fire Chief, employees for the MBTA were able to put out a few fires before the Cambridge Fire Department arrived at the scene.

Source: Delays after Red Line train derails at Alewife T station, WickedLocal.com, December 22, 2009 Continue reading

A bus crash last week near Boston’s Copley Place injured a 54-year-old pedestrian. According to a press release issued by the Suffolk district attorney’s office, the MBTA bus accident occurred just after midnight near the intersection of Ring Road and Huntington Avenue.

The Route 9 bus was headed west on Huntington Avenue and did not have any passengers at the time of the bus crash. As of Friday, the pedestrian was still in the intensive care unit at Boston Medical Center.

The bus driver will be tested for drug or alcohol impairment in accordance with the MBTA’s standard policy, but investigators say he did not show any signs of impairment following the collision.

Source: Pedestrian critical after MBTA bus collision in Back Bay, Boston Globe, December 11, 2009 Continue reading

Yesterday afternoon, an outbound MBTA trolley carrying 90 people derailed at Copley Station, shutting down MBTA service for several hours. According to the Boston Herald, the subway accident sparked a small fire, which crews extinguished quickly.

The MBTA provided bus replacement service between Kenmore Station and Park Street on the Green Line as crews worked to clear up the accident.

An MBTA spokesman said there no injuries in the train accident, because the trolley was moving at a very low speed. The accident remains under investigation, but the MBTA says there is no cause to believe that the operator did anything unsafe.

Sources: Green line trolley derails, no injuries, Boston Herald, December 13, 2009
Green Line trolley derails at Copley Station, WHDH.com, December 13, 2009 Continue reading

On Saturday evening, a retired Haverhill Police officer died in an MBTA commuter train accident. When it pulled into Newburyport station at 5:32pm, the train hit and killed 63-year-old Richard Witkiewicz. MBTA officials and the District Attorney’s office have ruled the death an accident. A spokesperson for the MBTA said the man was crossing the tracks in a pedestrian crosswalk when he was hit.

However, a taxi driver who was the last person to speak to Witkiewicz before he died told the Newburyport News he doesn’t believe Witkiewicz walked in front of the train.

According to the driver, “I saw his body; it wasn’t on the tracks, and if he stepped in front of a train going 30 miles per hour, he would have been mangled. He had a severe head wound. He got clipped by the train.”

The fatal accident is still being investigated.

Source: Witness disputes MBTA’s report on train accident, The Daily News, December 1, 2009 Continue reading

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has come under scrutiny regarding several recent subway accidents. However, one near accident last Friday night had a happy ending thanks to the quick reactions of an MBTA inspector and an Orange Line operator. Both employees received a standing ovation during an MBTA meeting earlier this week.

The incident occurred at North Station when a passenger who reportedly had been drinking for several hours fell off the platform Friday evening. Passengers flailed their arms and the inspector quickly radioed the subway operator to warn her to stop. After applying the emergency brake, the heavy subway car stopped just inches from away from the woman. The unidentified woman was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital as a precaution.

A bystander who pulled the woman from the subway tracks after the near-accident says she wrote the MBTA and the Boston Globe that night to ensure that the train inspector and operator received recognition for their role in averting the subway accident.

Source: MBTA workers honored for roles in averting subway accident, Boston Globe, November 10, 2009 Continue reading

Officials in Belmont, Massachusetts are investigating an MBTA commuter rail accident that killed an 18-year-old woman on Thursday afternoon. The train accident occurred around 12:52pm when the teen crossed the train tracks for unknown reasons and apparently didn’t see or hear the oncoming train. Police believe the MBTA accident victim was a student at the nearby Belmont High School.

According to Deputy Chief of the MBTA Transit Police, the train stopped a “short distance” after impact. Investigators are still determining the train’s speed, but the deputy chief said that commuter trains in that section of the track can reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Some students reportedly crawl through a hole in the fence and cross the commuter rail tracks a short cut, but a note on Belmont High School’s website cautions that anyone found on the tracks is subject to arrest on charges of trespassing.

The name of the victim has not been released pending notification of her family. The fatal train accident is being investigated by the transit police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.

Sources: Probe Continues Into Girl’s Train Death, TheBostonChannel.com, November 6, 2009
Belmont teen struck and killed by MBTA commuter rail train, WickedLocal.com, November 5, 2009 Continue reading

In February, an 82-year-old Dorchester woman was killed in an MBTA escalator accident when her hair and scarf got caught in the escalator. Although the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority suggested that the woman died of cardiac arrest, a suit filed in Suffolk Superior Court states that a medical examiner found that the woman actually died of strangulation. The occurred at the Orange Line’s State Street stop near escalator accidentCity Hall.

Some passerby tried to free the woman but she was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital after struggling against the machinery. According to the suit, the MBTA had a watchman booth at the State Street stop, but it was unmanned at the time of the accident. The emergency button failed to stop the escalators, and the emergency call box used by bystanders to call for help reportedly did not work.

A spokesperson for the MBTA says the agency has not yet seen the lawsuit and that a state inspector did not find anything wrong with the escalator.

Escalator is cited in death at T station, Boston Globe, November 3, 2009 Continue reading

The Boston Globe reports that a commuter rail accident earlier this week injured 18 people. The MBTA crash occurred on the Worcester line as it entered South Station Tuesday morning. The engineer controlling the commuter train reportedly mistimed the train’s entry into the station and hit a metal bumping post. The impact knocked passengers off their feet, onto the floor, and into seats around them. Most of their injuries were minor.

A total of 13 people were taken to local hospitals. Nine passengers were carried from the scene of the accident on backboards. Five people were treated for minor injuries at the scene of the accident but refused to go the hospital. Five other patients were taken to Boston Medical Center, and four were expected to be released within a couple of hours, according to the chairman of emergency medicine. The firth person was taken in for observation.

A preliminary investigation of the train accident has ruled out issues with signals, dispatching, and equipment. In accordance with the MBTA’s policy, the driver was taken out of service and tested for drugs and alcohol. The 35-year-old had no disciplinary incidents in his personal record.

S. Station commuter train crash injures 18, Boston Globe, September 16, 2009 Continue reading

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