WASHINGTON — The use of the Train Approach Warning method to warn track workers of approaching traffic — in a multiple-track location where trains could approach at full speed in either direction — led to a fatal 2019 accident involving Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority workers, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a report issued Thursday.
The accident on July 8, 2019, on SEPTA’s Broad Street subway line in Philadelphia, killed one worker and led to the hospitalization of a second worker with non-life-threatening injuries. It occurred about 5:21 p.m., when a northbound train struck the workers at the same time that a southbound train passed.
The Train Approach Warning system allows maintenance employees to work on tracks while another individual watches for approaching traffic. No other protective measures or restrictions are required. Subsequent to the accident, SEPTA has halted minor track repairs from workers protected only by Train Approach Warning; repairs will now take place when trains are not operating, or when a work zone can be established or a track can be taken out of service. SEPTA also now prohibits non-emergency work during peak operating periods (6:30 a.m.-9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.)
It is the second recent incident in which the NTSB has cited Train Approach Warning as the probable cause of an accident. It was also cited in the September report on a 2018 fatality involving a CSX Transportation worker in Estill, S.C.
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