MBTA fatality incident on Red Line train

[Fenway]

I have to think Broadway being a single platform station played a role in this accident. Terrible.


An investigation is underway after a horrific incident on an MBTA train this weekend left a man dead.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office says a passenger got his arm stuck in the doorway of an inbound Red Line train at Broadway Station in Boston at around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Investigators say as the train departed the station, that man was dragged into the track area and later died.

The man was identified Monday by the MBTA as 39-year-old Robinson Lalin.

The MBTA says the train operator, who was hired in 2018, will remain off duty during the investigation into what went wrong.

MBTA Train Operator Off Duty After Man's Dragging Death on Red Line

An investigation is underway after a horrific incident on an MBTA train this weekend left a man dead. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office says a passenger got his arm stuck in the doorway of an inbound Red Line train at Broadway Station in Boston at around 12:30 a.m. Sunday...

www.nbcboston.com

 

[daybeers]

This is extremely messed up. I am losing faith in this country's ability to do many things, namely run transit. The MBTA is one of the worst offenders.

This makes me extremely angry.

 

[Fenway]

This is extremely messed up. I am losing faith in this country's ability to do many things, namely run transit. The MBTA is one of the worst offenders.

This makes me extremely angry.

My educated guess is the operator walked to the left window to open/close doors and went back to the cab and didn't see it.

That said the door sensors on MBTA heavy rail are not reliable.

 

[daybeers]

That said the door sensors on MBTA heavy rail are not reliable.

More like their training is not reliable.

 

[Fenway]

More like their training is not reliable.

The T has 'culture' problems with both management and the union



I can not recall a passenger getting killed on a T MBTA heavy rail train and they have dodged some bullets over the years including this fiasco in 1975

100 Are Injured in Boston as 3 Subway Trains Collide in the Rush Hour (Published 1975)

more than 100 persons are injured when 3 rapid transit trains going in same direction collide during evening rush hr in Boston; hosp officials say few of injuries are serious; Mass Bay Transportation Auth spokesman says trains carried 800 to 1,200 people; illus of passengers being helped from...

www.nytimes.com

BOSTON, Aug. 1 (AP) —Three rapid transit trains all going in the same direction collided today in a chain reaction in the evening rush hour, injuring more than 100 persons.

Hospital officials said that few of the injuries were serious. Two persons were admitted to hospitals with fractured legs and possible multiple fractures. Many of the others had facial cuts.

Martin Bander, a spokesman for the nearby Massachusetts General Hospital, said that about 85 people Were treated there, and two were admitted. Thirteen were treated at. Boston City Hospital, and three persons were taken to Beth Israel Hospital.
Ken Campbell, a transportation official, said that the crash had apparently been caused by a signal problem.

All three trains had four cars and were headed from Cambridge into Boston. The collision occurred Just inside a tunnel between the Charles Street and Park Street stations on the Red Line, which connects Cambridge with Boston and Quincy to the south.

The T was able to phase out 'door operators' on heavy rail trains but the union was able to keep 'attendants' on light rail because of fare collection.

I have to believe the T has video of the incident and will release it in the next few days.

 

[Fenway]

The T is really stonewalling on what happened.

A Boston man died after he got trapped in the door of a Red Line subway car. The T isn’t answering basic questions about what happened. - The Boston Globe

“It should be really, really hard for someone to get hurt or die getting on or off the T,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, a public transportation advocacy group. “The alarm bells should have gone off six months ago.”

www.bostonglobe.com

Almost two days after a 39-year-old Boston man died after he got trapped in the door of a Red Line subway car, the MBTA declined to answer basic questions about what happened.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo declined to say if Robinson Lalin was getting on or off the train. He declined to say if the T suspects the car, which was put into service more than 50 years ago, malfunctioned. He declined to say if officials think the operator — who is no longer driving trains as the investigation continues — might be at fault.

The lack of information left Lalin’s family to describe a nightmarish turn of events.

“He ended up being dragged to the end of the platform where his arm was detached and his body smashed against the wall, breaking all of his bones,” Lalin’s nephew, Kelvin Lalin, told reporters in an interview broadcast by WCVB-TV.

 

[Ryan]

WMATA has entered the chat...

This is tough to read, but not out-of-family with the dumpster fire that is WMATA down here.

 

[Waynniack]

I can't help but think that the victim probably put his hand in as the door was closing to get them to open back up so he could get on the train. (Many people falsely think the doors operate like elevator doors when they open back up, but that's the operator doing that. They'll bounce if they detect a big enough obstruction, but there is rubber between the door leafs and I could see a hand being able to fit in between.)

I'm guessing the operator closed the doors, saw the pilot lights go out, then took off like normal even with seeing the victim standing next to the train not noticing they were still attached to it. There are no train attendants in the middle of the trains anymore to check that no one is getting dragged as the train departs the station. (Which I think is a terrible money saving decision.) It's all up to the operator at the front who, for obvious reasons, can't move the train and check down the platform for issues at the same time. If this happened at the rear of the train at a station that has a bend, it becomes even more difficult to see someone physically attached to the train.

I don't know enough about Broadway station to say if its physical characteristics played a part in the incident, nor do I have any more information than the MBTA hasn't already publicly released. I'm only speaking from my experience on another line and I'm purely speculating. We will just have to wait for the investigation to finish to get the official answer.

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

Broadway is a center platform station so the operator would have closed the doors from the left side window on the cab then moved to the right side where the operating position is. During that time it is possible the unfortunate victim could have stuck his hand between the doors as they were closing and the operator would not have seen it. I believe this was the last train of the evening so I could see a person being desperate to get on if they could.

It's true that if they still had Guards on the trains (as conductors were referred to in Boston) this probably wouldn't have happened but one person operation seems to be the standard everywhere now with the notable exception of NYC. Perhaps better CCTV coverage of the platforms as they have in London would help?

 

[Deni]

Broadway is a center platform station so the operator would have closed the doors from the left side window on the cab then moved to the right side where the operating position is. During that time it is possible the unfortunate victim could have stuck his hand between the doors as they were closing and the operator would not have seen it. I believe this was the last train of the evening so I could see a person being desperate to get on if they could.

It's true that if they still had Guards on the trains (as conductors were referred to in Boston) this probably wouldn't have happened but one person operation seems to be the standard everywhere now with the notable exception of NYC. Perhaps better CCTV coverage of the platforms as they have in London would help?

Yeah, getting conductors (guards) back on metro trains all around the country would be a good idea. Transit advocates here in Chicago are pushing for their return with the uptick in crime and other bad behavior on the trains. I always felt they never should have dropped them.

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

Yeah, getting conductors (guards) back on metro trains all around the country would be a good idea. Transit advocates here in Chicago are pushing for their return with the uptick in crime and other bad behavior on the trains. I always felt they never should have dropped them.

As much as I would like to see a return to 2 person crews, that train has already left the station. If anything I expect to see more systems moving to driverless trains with perhaps no crew members on board. Given the tight budgets of transit systems and the expense of onboarding larger crews I just don't see this happening.

 

[daybeers]

Are there international examples of two employees on rapid transit? Seems to me like an awfully expensive preposition that should instead be solved by cameras feeding into the cab and better door sensors.

 

[Fenway]

Broadway is a center platform station so the operator would have closed the doors from the left side window on the cab then moved to the right side where the operating position is. During that time it is possible the unfortunate victim could have stuck his hand between the doors as they were closing and the operator would not have seen it. I believe this was the last train of the evening so I could see a person being desperate to get on if they could.

It's true that if they still had Guards on the trains (as conductors were referred to in Boston) this probably wouldn't have happened but one person operation seems to be the standard everywhere now with the notable exception of NYC. Perhaps better CCTV coverage of the platforms as they have in London would help?

This is the operators view at Broadway (Boston Globe)



Your theory of the victim flying down the stairs and trying to stop the train from leaving is plausable.

 

[Fenway]

I didn't expect this

The 39-year-old man who got stuck in the doorway of an inbound Red Line and dragged to his death was exiting the train during the incident, the National Transportation Safety Board said Friday, the Boston Globe reported.

 

[Danib62]

WMATA has entered the chat...

This is tough to read, but not out-of-family with the dumpster fire that is WMATA down here.

I have lived for significant periods of time in both DC and Boston and frequently travel between the two and when it comes to safety culture I will take the T any day of the week and twice on Sundays over the death trap that is the DC Metro.

 

[jis]

Are there international examples of two employees on rapid transit? Seems to me like an awfully expensive preposition that should instead be solved by cameras feeding into the cab and better door sensors.

AFAIK, every Metro and Suburban system is two person operation in India. What is called Commuter Systems in the US with service limited to commutation hours does not exist in India.

 

[Fenway]

MBTA officials blame federal agency for preventing them from speaking about fatal Red Line accident - The Boston Globe

The independent federal agency that investigates major transportation accidents has asked the MBTA not discuss the matter publicly.

www.bostonglobe.com

Why haven’t MBTA officials shared what they know about a Red Line passenger killed earlier this month when he was trapped in a subway car door? On Thursday, agency leaders blamed the National Transportation Safety Board for keeping a lid on the investigation.

“We have been directed by the NTSB not to release any information that is outside of what they have already shared in the public domain,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said at a meeting of the MBTA’s board of directors. “It puts us in a position where we cannot speak I think as transparently as we would like in public until their investigation is concluded and disclosed.”

That’s true, a NTSB spokesman said by e-mail. The independent federal agency that investigates transportation accidents has asked the MBTA not discuss the matter publicly.

“In this current case, MBTA is a party to the NTSB investigation, and they have agreed to follow the agreement and refer all inquiries to the NTSB,” said spokesman Keith Holloway. “There is no new information available for release at this time.”

A preliminary report by the NTSB may be ready in “the next couple of weeks,” Holloway said.

 

[Fenway]

NTSB Report: Faulty Door Control System Led to Last Month's MBTA Red Line Death

A passenger door on a Boston subway car did not function properly when a man got his arm stuck in it and was dragged to his death last month, federal investigators said Monday. The trains are equipped with safety features to prevent them from moving when the doors are obstructed, the National...

www.nbcboston.com

It was Pullman-Standard car 01510 which entered service in 1969.





On April 10, 2022, about 12:30 a.m. local time, a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) passenger was fatally injured at the Broadway Station in Boston, Massachusetts. Surveillance video reviewed by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators showed that the passenger attempted to exit the six-car train through the side passenger door of the railcar they were riding in as the train doors were closing. In the attempt to exit the train, the passenger’s right arm was trapped in the door. The train departed the station, dragging the passenger along the platform about 105 feet and onto the surface below, near the tracks.

MBTA trains are designed and equipped with safety features to prevent them from moving when the passenger doors are obstructed. NTSB investigators examined and tested the railcar involved after the accident, identifying a fault in a local door control system that enabled the train to move with the door obstructed. (See figure.) The MBTA immediately initiated a fleet inspection looking for the identified fault in other railcars to prevent reoccurrence. The MBTA reported that no other similar faults were found during the inspection.

While on scene, NTSB investigators examined and tested the train equipment, reviewed security footage, observed MBTA train operations, conducted interviews, and performed sight distance observations. The NTSB’s investigation is ongoing. Future investigative activity will focus on the MBTA’s passenger train equipment and operating procedures.

Parties to this NTSB investigation include the MBTA, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, the Federal Transit Administration, and the Boston Carmen’s Union.

 

[AmtrakMaineiac]

Now that New York's R-32s have been retired, the 01500 Pullmans are the oldest heavy rail rapid transit cars running in North America, maybe the world.