WASHINGTON — An operator who “exceeded maximum authorized speed due to his loss of situational awareness” was the probable cause of a July 2021 collision between two Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority light rail vehicles, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report released Thursday, Jan. 5.
The operator, who told authorities that he may have fallen asleep, failed to apply brakes before his train, going 33 mph, rear-ended a train going 10 mph in the July 30, 2021, incident on the MBTA’s Green Line B Branch.
Twenty-four passengers and three crew members were transported to local hospitals with minor injuries as a result of the collision, which derailed one car of the train that hit the preceding equipment [see “MBTA light rail operator arraigned …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 7, 2021]. The equipment sustained about $2 million in damage.
The collision occurred shortly after 6 p.m., near the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Harry Agganis Street in Brookline, Mass. The Green Line has a 25 mph speed limit, with a 10 mph limit in intersections; the train was 23 mph over the latter speed limit at the time of the accident.
The MBTA is now in the process of installing a train protection system intended to mitigate the risk of collisions between trains. It is scheduled to be in operation by June 2025, the report notes.
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