BOSTON — A metal sill on a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authrotiy Orange Line train came loose and made contact with the electrified third rail, causing the fire that stopped the train on a bridge in Somerville, Mass., on Thursday, the agency says.
The Boston Globe reports that MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said about 200 people were on board the train when the incident occurred a little before 7 a.m., but no injuries resulted. Efforts to open an emergency door on the car failed, a passenger told the door, leading passengers to break out windows to escape.
One female passenger jumped into the water after exiting the train; Somerville Fire Chief Charles Breen told the Globe that the department’s boat happened to be nearby for training “and was on scene immediately. The woman refused to get in the boat. She was provided a life jacket and proceeded to swim to shore … then she walked away.”
Poftak said the car involved entered service in January 1980 and was last inspected June 23, and that the agency will be investigating whether heat or movement of the train may have caused the sill to fall off. WBZ Radio reports the agency has inspected the sills of all other Orange Line cars in service.
In a Twitter post, the agency said, “We are deeply disappointed that this incident occurred and sincerely apologize to our riders who were on the train, as well as to our ridership as a whole.” It promised to take “every necessary step” to prevent a recurrence.
A bus bridge originally replaced rail service around the accident scene, but rail service resumed around 11 a.m.
WHDH-TV reports Gov. Charlie Baker called the incident “a colossal failure,” while U.S. Sen Ed Markey called it “unacceptable” and said, “Years of neglect and mismanagement have put MBTA riders in danger’s path.”
The incident is the latest black eye for the MBTA, which has suffered a series of high-profile accidents and recently was ordered by the Federal Transit Administration to address a series of safety concerns [see “Federal directives order MBTA to address safety issues,” Trains News Wire, June 15, 2022].
Loose parts I do not care how new or old. A good preflight would find most of these problems. All doors and any parts on the outside should always be grabbed and shook. This walk arounds must be on a dead third rail section with proper visual warnings whenever 3 rd rail is alive
First, the car spontaneously fell apart. Then something where there should not be anything flammable caught fire.
Emergency evacuation plans should have been posted conspicuously somewhere on the car. What did they say to do?
BTW it’s Friday PM and the passenger continues to have told the door. Perhaps the passenger did not tell the door, “Open, says me!”
It fell apart because it was manufactured in 1980. These trains were getting long in the tooth when I left Boston in 1995. They’re 27 years older now. MBTA’s refusal to replace them (and even older Red Line trains) is a scandal. They should’ve been replaced (or completely rebuilt) after perhaps 25 years.
This whole deal is a new one. In general, subway cars aren’t supposed to catch on fire. In other incidents like a derailment or an earthquake (i.e. BART) passengers are told to stay in the cars until third rail is deenergized, and the crew conducts an orderly evacuation.
And what did the door say to the passenger in response?
“No escape for you!”
You realize George, that they are going to edit this article and everyone is going to wonder what on earth we are talking about…
Edit BEFORE posting?