A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line trolley operator has been placed on leave following a Green Line trolley crash in Boston Friday night that left more than 20 people injured, a spokesperson for the agency that.
Written content from WCVB
Witnesses say the two MBTA Green Line B Branch trolley vehicles were heading outbound when the collision
“Based on information developed as part of the investigation, one of the Green Line operators involved in last night’s collision has been placed on administrative leave,” a spokesperson for the MBTA said.
The employee placed on leave was operating the first car of the two-car trolley that struck the other two-car train from behind. The operator was not identified by the transit agency.
The trolley operator placed on leave had been with the MBTA for seven years.
The actions come as the National Transportation Safety Board joins the probe into the Friday night collision between the two Green Line trolleys.
A total of 25 people suffered non-life-threatening injuries according to the Boston EMS after the crash involving two MBTA vehicles in the 900 block of Commonwealth Avenue near Boston University’s Agganis Arena.
“We have our safety department on scene currently conducting an investigation,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak says. “This should not happen and we will find out why it happened and ensure it won’t happen again.”
Video from the scene showed Green Line trolley 3705 with severe damage to one end of the unit, with part of the trolley bent in and shattered glass on the front windshield. There was also damage to Green Line trolley 3697.
“The train was stopped at the light when it suddenly jerked forward,” MBTA passenger Brian Sirman, who was on one of the trains, said. “It felt like the worst amusement park ride that you could imagine, just jerking you forward.”
“I didn’t fall out of my seat other than bumping my head on the metal bar behind me,” Sirman said. “Everyone else who was in the side seats or standing ended up on the floor.”
Initially, Sirman thought the crash was due to mechanical failure. “I hadn’t realized we were hit until I was leaving the scene and saw the end of the second car smashed in.”
“I was just making pizzas, I heard a bang and everything started to shake,” one witness at Blaze Pizza, across from the crash said.
A system that is designed to prevent crashes like the one that occurred Friday night is just in the beginning stages of being installed, according to the MBTA.
The Green Line Train Protection System, a $170 million project to be completed by 2024, is designed to reduce the risk of train collisions by installing signal overrun protection, collision avoidance monitoring, and speed enforcing transponders.
The transit agency says the installation of both vehicle-borne devices on Green Line trolleys and components along the track is anticipated to begin early next year. Read more from WCVB
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