GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has halted work on a project on state-owned tracks used by the Housatonic Railroad following a fatal accident last week, pending a safety review of the contractor hired for the track work.
The Berkshire Eagle newspaper reports DOT spokeswoman Jacquelyn Goddard said in a written response to questions that work by contractor Middlesex Corp. had been stopped, and that “workplace safety processes and training are priorities on all MassDOT projects.”
A contract worker was struck by track equipment on Friday at a remote location between Great Barrington and Sheffield and later died [see “Worker killed in accident …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 4, 2023]. The name of the victim has not yet been released.
The National Transportation Safety Board, Federal Railroad Administration, and state and local authorities are all investigating the incident.
Middlesex Corp, based in Littleton, Mass., is an infrastructure and paving firm specializing in bridge and aviation work that also has been involved in rail projects including extension of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line, an Amtrak double-tracking project between Rensselaer and Schnectady, N.Y., and construction of Florida’s SunRail,
