BOSTON — No injuries were reported after a minor collision between two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line trolleys on Wednesday evening, WCVB-TV reports.
MBTA CEO Phillip Eng told reporters during a Thursday media event that one of the trains rolled about 3 feet into the other train, and the two trains coupled. “Technically, it is deemed a collision, but the two couplers tied and they were connected.”
About 100 passengers were evacuated from the two trainsets and taken through the Green Line tunnel to the Park Street station platform, about 250 feet away. Service on the Green Line was suspended for about an hour. Boston.com reports the MBTA is investigating the incident and looking at “possible human factors.”
The latest incident comes a little more than a month after six people were injured in the collision of two Green Line trains in Somerville, Mass. The initial investigation report from the National Transportation Safety Board on that Feb. 9 incident indicates an in-service train exceeded its speed limit and passed a red signal before striking a parked train [see “MBTA Green Line train was speeding …,” Trains News Wire, March 6, 2025].
News reports say that the trolley rolled backwards. Park Street Station on the Green Line has a slight incline eastbound, which is where the incident occurred. Might have been a Kinki Sharyo Type 7 vehicle, which has foot pedals vs. hand controls.
At Park Street trolleys run nose to tail on Visual Flight Rules. This is America’s oldest subway
That’s right. It was first opened in 1897. As one may recall, Park Street station is the transfer point between the Green and Red lines, as one of the quartet of “hub stations” on the MBTA subway system.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The second train “stopped” three feet from the train ahead? But then rolled forward? What was that engineer doing? Is this a bad signal system or colorblind engineers?
I think the trolleys involved in the accident were AnsaldoBreda Type 8 light rail vehicles.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
Sounds like the operator’s foot came off the brake pedal. Who needs a signal when there’s a large, green LRV three feet in front.