BOSTON — A group of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority track workers experienced another near-miss incident on March 1, the transit agency reported Thursday, the latest in a series of safety incidents that helped lead to federal oversight of the rapid transit system.
The Boston Globe reports that one flagger and four track workers were involved in the incident on the Orange Line, which occurred near the Tufts Medical Center Station around 10:20 a.m. The workers, performing rail greasing and inspections, had to duck into wall cutouts of the subway tunnel.
Nancy Prominski, deputy chief safety officer, told the MBTA board’s safety subcommittee that an investigation into the incident is continuing, but initial indications are that it involved a violation by the train operator. The MBTA is reviewing procedures for track work during service hours and will train workers on changes when that process is complete.
The MBTA’s log of near-miss incidents include four in a month last spring, leading to a “safety standdown” while workers were briefed on proper procedures [see “MBTA trains had four near-miss incidents …,” Trains News Wire, April 14, 2023], and additional incidents last September [see “Governor reacts following more close calls …,” News Wire, Sept. 21, 2023]. Prior incidents were part of the long list of issues that led the Federal Transit Administration to issue safety directives in 2022 [see “FTA has no plans to take over MBTA …,” News Wire, Oct. 17, 2022].
What is the issue in Boston? The Green line is out of gauge, constant safety issues, equipment issues.
The “issue” that underlies all the others, the one that has lead to the disfunction at the MBTA we have been hearing about for at least the last decade is the apathy to downright hostility to public transportation by the political party that has had this state in its vise-like grip seemingly forever.