CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Service resumed late this morning (Thursday, Oct. 3) after a day and a half of shuttle-bus substitutions on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Green Line in the wake of Tuesday’s derailment of a Green Line train near Lechmere station in Cambridge.
On Wednesday, the MBTA had said it was “unclear” when service will resume because of the ongoing investigation into the derailment. “Once the investigation is complete, and the area is returned to the T,” the agency wrote in a press release, “infrastructure and maintenance personnel will make all repairs necessary to restore service.”
But WBZ-TV reported the derailed train had been removed from the accident scene early this morning, and the MBTA said service between North Station and Union Square, and between North Station and Medford/Tufts, about 10:30 a.m. The MBTA, National Transportation Board, Federal Transit Administration and state Department of Public Utilities are all involved in the investigation.
“We sincerely apologize for this incident and thank the public for their patience while we worked to resume service. Our thoughts continue to be with the riders who were aboard this trolley and those who were injured,” MBTA CEO Phillip Eng said in a press release. “I want to acknowledge the efforts of the MBTA team that safely cleared the incident train, and repaired our track, signal, and power infrastructure, allowing us to resume service today. Know that we share a common goal with the NTSB, FTA, and DPU and are fully committed to continuously improve and deliver safe and reliable service to all that we serve.”
NTSB investigative processes can make for lengthy disruptions at accident scenes. In the case of a Nov. 16, 2023, collision involving a Chicago Transit Authority train and a piece of snow removal equipment, it was Nov. 20 before NTSB released the scene to the CTA to begin clean-up and repairs. Subsequent CTA activity in the wake of the collision meant it was 50 days before the 4.7-mile Yellow Line to Skokie, Ill., reopened [see “CTA to resume Yellow Line operations …,” Trains News Wire, Jan 4, 2024].
Seven people were taken to hospitals for treatment following the Tuesday derailment of a train with about 50 people aboard [see “Seven taken to hospital …,” News Wire, Oct. 1, 2024].
— Updated at 6:35 p.m. CT with resumption of service.
