MBTA ordered to take new action starting Saturday

MBTA ordered to take new action starting Saturday

The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

MBTA ordered to take new action starting Saturday

Federal transportation authorities are ordering the MBTA to "conduct an immediate safety stand-down" starting this weekend affecting all employees who work with disabled rail vehicles in the T's maintenance facilities and rail yards.

Hundreds of employees will be affected, the MBTA said.

In a letter addressed to MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak on Thursday, Federal Transit Administration authorities said the new order comes in the wake of several recent incidents, including some that have occurred since the agency issued a long list of safety directives to the T.

"FTA has determined that a combination of unsafe conditions and practices exist such that there is a substantial risk of death or personal injury," the FTA letter states.

READ: FTA's order issued July 28, 2022

"Even one time is unacceptable," said rail safety consultant Keith Millhouse. "When you see a pattern occurring, and nothing being done, that is of great concern."

Federal Transit Administration issued four multifaceted directives in June after completing a safety review of the system. As of July 14, the MBTA said it had so far met all deadlines and requirements included in those orders.

The new order cites three incidents involving uncontrolled or rollaway trains.

On Monday, a set of subway cars rolled out of Caddigan Yard, onto the Red Line and hundreds of feet past Braintree Station on the mainline.

The FTA also cited two incidents from late May: A rollaway train on the mainline at Braintree Station on May 30 and another on May 28 at Cabot Yard.

"While no injuries have resulted from the recent incidents, uncontrolled train movements, especially on the mainline, are exceptionally dangerous, can result in collision or derailment, and pose a substantial risk of injury or death to employees in the path of the train," the FTA letter said.

During a "safety stand-down" ordered to begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, all workers who operate or secure disabled rail vehicles must attend a safety briefing before returning to the MBTA's yards or shops. During the briefing they must review the three cited incidents and MBTA officials must reinforce policies or procedures that prevent unintended or uncontrolled movements.

According to the MBTA, the safety briefings will take approximately 15 minutes and will be held at the start of shifts or during breaks. Officials said they believe the MBTA can maintain existing service levels with little disruption while the safety briefings are ongoing.

MBTA officials will be required to provide the FTA with updates on its safety briefing progress every day, starting on Monday. Those reports need to include the names of employees in attendance and copies of the materials presented.

Additionally, the MBTA is being ordered to prepare checklists that guide procedures for coupling and uncoupling rail transit vehicles. Employees will be required to follow and complete the checklist while working.

Finally, the MBTA is being given 10 days to implement a form to document the results of the so-called "circle check" inspection of rail transit vehicles. The results of the checklists and forms must be made available for review by the FTA and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.

"The MBTA shares the Federal Transit Administration's concerns over recent incidents of uncontrolled movements involving out-of-service rail cars. Having received the FTA's letter yesterday, the MBTA is taking steps to execute the immediate actions required by the FTA," MBTA officials wrote in response to the letter. "Fully supporting the FTA's ongoing scrutiny of safety-related processes and practices, the MBTA is committed to providing the training and tools necessary for employees to create and maintain a culture in which safety is prioritized."

Monday's runaway train incident isn't the only recent MBTA safety lapse to make headlines.

Last week, an Orange Line train passenger jumped off a bridge into the Mystic River and dozens of other passengers evacuated through the windows of the MBTA train after it caught on fire on a bridge just south of Wellington Station.

Among the issues identified by the FTA in June were backlogs of thousands of known defects related to the rail infrastructure, including a stretch of the Orange Line that has been under a speed restriction since 2019 because of excessive wear and defects.

Officials said they also have "launched an aggressive hiring campaign to attract qualified candidates" to fill vacancies in numerous categories, including the understaffed Operations Control Center. In the wake of the FTA review, the T was forced to cut weekday service on three of its four main subway lines to Saturday-like levels in order to comply with staffing directives.

FTA investigators said the control center was so shorthanded that dispatchers regularly worked 16-hour shifts and sometimes worked 20-hour shifts with only four hours off.

A new MBTA rule limits dispatchers to working 14 hours in a 16-hour period featuring mandatory one-hour breaks, which operations control center deputy general manager Aisheea Isidor said lines up with shifts worked by MBTA bus operators and motorpersons.

New hires will need to undergo 10 weeks of training before being assigned to duties in the Operations Control Center. In the short term, the MBTA said it rehired three former dispatchers to temporarily work in the department.

Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.