Fatal Accident in Woburn, MA
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Human error indicated in fatal MBTA crash
from: http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?articleid=32714
Investigators of Tuesday’s (Jan. 9) fatal Woburn, Mass., crash believe a railroad dispatcher put the commuter train on a fatal collision course after she heard a maintenance truck call “clear” and mistakenly thought the six man crew had left the restricted work area, said a source briefed on a preliminary federal report as reported in the Boston Herald.
The “clear” the dispatcher heard was actually a second work crew aboard a high-rail truck, which a short time before had asked train dispatchers for permission to ride down the inbound tracks into the restricted zone where the crew was replacing rail ties, the source said.
Thinking the crew was off the tracks, the dispatcher realigned a switch three miles north of the job site - a switch that had safely moved four trains past the workers - and put the Boston bound train on a 60 mph crash course with the workers, killing two.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Ted Turpin would not confirm the initial report.
He said the agency spent yesterday interviewing train dispatchers and maintenance crews, and had yet to review audio tapes of the dispatcher’s radio calls.
He said the signals as well as the equipment that moves the tracks were working properly. “We haven’t found any issues with the equipment or the mechanics,” he said. “Everything was working as intended.”
The preliminary findings by veteran federal rail safety investigators show the train dispatcher had set a block on the work zone, so no one could enter that section of track, the source said.
The block uses either a computer to set the switch and direct trains around the crew, or a small metal box over a toggle button that controls that train switch, the source said.
Due to the block, the second work crew was required under railroad operating rules to call the dispatcher and get permission to enter the tracks.
“Another M of W (maintenance) crew asked permission to enter the limits,” the source said. “In keeping with the rules they had to get permission to pass the stop signal.”
Once the second crew was inside the zone, it called in a “clear” to the dispatcher.
“Now the (maintenance) crew reported clear,” the source said. “The train dispatcher mistook that additional equipment for the Maintenance of Way foreman who actually had the (permission) to work on the track, and thought that Maintenance of Way crew was calling to report clear.”
But rail safety sources said that one “clear” signal should not have been enough for the dispatcher to realign the switch.
“She would have to speak directly to the person who she had given the Form D (permission) to,” the source said. “That person would have to say he and all his men and equipment are clear from the track and that they are releasing their authority on the track.”
The dispatcher was interviewed yesterday by MBTA police and Federal Railroad Administration investigators. She has been put on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
(This item appeared in the Boston Herald Jan. 11, 2007.)
January 11, 2007
from: http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?articleid=32714
Investigators of Tuesday’s (Jan. 9) fatal Woburn, Mass., crash believe a railroad dispatcher put the commuter train on a fatal collision course after she heard a maintenance truck call “clear” and mistakenly thought the six man crew had left the restricted work area, said a source briefed on a preliminary federal report as reported in the Boston Herald.
The “clear” the dispatcher heard was actually a second work crew aboard a high-rail truck, which a short time before had asked train dispatchers for permission to ride down the inbound tracks into the restricted zone where the crew was replacing rail ties, the source said.
Thinking the crew was off the tracks, the dispatcher realigned a switch three miles north of the job site - a switch that had safely moved four trains past the workers - and put the Boston bound train on a 60 mph crash course with the workers, killing two.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Ted Turpin would not confirm the initial report.
He said the agency spent yesterday interviewing train dispatchers and maintenance crews, and had yet to review audio tapes of the dispatcher’s radio calls.
He said the signals as well as the equipment that moves the tracks were working properly. “We haven’t found any issues with the equipment or the mechanics,” he said. “Everything was working as intended.”
The preliminary findings by veteran federal rail safety investigators show the train dispatcher had set a block on the work zone, so no one could enter that section of track, the source said.
The block uses either a computer to set the switch and direct trains around the crew, or a small metal box over a toggle button that controls that train switch, the source said.
Due to the block, the second work crew was required under railroad operating rules to call the dispatcher and get permission to enter the tracks.
“Another M of W (maintenance) crew asked permission to enter the limits,” the source said. “In keeping with the rules they had to get permission to pass the stop signal.”
Once the second crew was inside the zone, it called in a “clear” to the dispatcher.
“Now the (maintenance) crew reported clear,” the source said. “The train dispatcher mistook that additional equipment for the Maintenance of Way foreman who actually had the (permission) to work on the track, and thought that Maintenance of Way crew was calling to report clear.”
But rail safety sources said that one “clear” signal should not have been enough for the dispatcher to realign the switch.
“She would have to speak directly to the person who she had given the Form D (permission) to,” the source said. “That person would have to say he and all his men and equipment are clear from the track and that they are releasing their authority on the track.”
The dispatcher was interviewed yesterday by MBTA police and Federal Railroad Administration investigators. She has been put on paid leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
(This item appeared in the Boston Herald Jan. 11, 2007.)
January 11, 2007
