Federal transportation officers are “actively monitoring” the aftermath of Thursday’s scary Orange Line prepare hearth that left passengers kicking out home windows in determined makes an attempt to flee and one girl plunging off the bridge into the Mystic River beneath.
Federal Transit Administration security workers is “in close contact with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities — the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s state safety oversight agency — and the MBTA,” an FTA spokesperson mentioned.
“FTA will consider (Thursday’s) incident in the context of the final safety inspection report that will be released in late August,” the spokesperson mentioned.
The newest security debacle, which left a few of the 200 passengers aboard the prepare fearing for his or her lives, couldn’t have come at a worse time for a beleaguered company that’s already working to adjust to 4 security directives issued to the FTA final month.
The feds launched their security administration inspection in April, days after a 39-year-old man was killed when his arm grew to become trapped in a defective Red Line prepare door and he was dragged greater than 100 ft.
Since then, issues of safety for the T have solely continued to pile up, with derailments, battery failures, prepare collisions and malfunctioning escalators, to call just a few.
On Monday — days earlier than the Orange Line prepare burst into flames after a metallic sill broke unfastened and made contact with the electrified rail — lawmakers grilled MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and MassDOT Secretary Jamey Tesler concerning the continued incidents through the first of at the least three deliberate legislative oversight hearings.
State Sen. Brendan Crighton, D-Lynn, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, mentioned the committee “barely scratched the surface” within the first legislative listening to, and “has a lot more work to do,” primarily based on the continued security incidents on the T.
Crighton mentioned Thursday’s prepare hearth will “play a big role” within the subsequent oversight listening to, which is scheduled for a while subsequent month.
“Obviously, horrific images and the stories from passengers — our thoughts are with them, having to experience a dramatic evacuation of the train on fire on a bridge over a waterway,” Crighton mentioned.
Poftak mentioned Thursday’s prepare hearth, which left passengers strolling about 1,500 to 2,000 ft again to Wellington station, will seemingly lead to extra stringent coaching and protocols round communication, however one transit advocate doesn’t anticipate a lot quick motion.
“The frustrating thing is that there’s likely nothing that can be done immediately,” TransitIssues Chief Operating Officer Jarred Johnson mentioned. “The T ought to have a look at growing the frequency of the inspections, however this car (and the offending panel) was inspected a month in the past.
“This incident is decades in the making. It should not have taken 34 years after the vehicles first hit the rails to order new ones. And the decision to go with the lowest bidder and build them in state added years of delays.”
Hours after the incident, Gov. Charlie Baker mentioned on a GBH radio program that he can be open to a dialog round dissolving the MBTA, and having it perform as a public transit division of MassDOT.
The proposal was first floated by state Rep. William Straus, D-Mattapoisett, co-chair of the transportation committee.
Another committee member, state Rep. Peter Capano, D-Lynn, mentioned Friday he was additionally on board with the concept the T could have “outlived their useful purpose and we need to think about a new transportation department.”
“We need leadership that can talk about what the future of transportation should look like,” he mentioned.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”