Feds to Investigate MBTA Safety

In 2019, they fired the MBTA fired the guy in charge of safety, Ron Nickle. After he filed a whistleblower complaint with the feds. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/ ... story.html Apparently he had a "demeaning" attitude.

Governor Charlie Baker on Monday stood by the MBTA’s decision to fire its former safety official, a longtime executive who alleged he was retaliated against for aggressively flagging safety hazards and pushing leaders to be more transparent about high-profile mishaps.

and https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/ ... story.html

Apparently, Mr Nickle wasn't the problem. And if I had a nickel for every derailment...

CRail wrote: ↑Tue Jun 21, 2022 8:59 pm

BandA wrote: ↑Tue Jun 21, 2022 4:19 pm I thought in the 2015 incident the operator Jerry-rigged the deadman, so either they failed to un-rig the deadman or the deadman switch was defective and they never fixed it!

Neither is the case. The deadman wasn't "rigged," it was held down. The train was not under power as it rolled, the fact that 01502 was the lead car again is nothing but a coincidence.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/ ... story.html

Nickle’s statement said he was told repeatedly to avoid blaming systemic problems for safety violations that affected commutes. When a Red Line train ran along the tracks without a driver in December 2015, MBTA officials revealed that an employee had jury-rigged a cord around the train’s throttle to override safety controls.

Throttle control implies power being applied, but I could be wrong.

{OT} - jury-rigged is more correkt than Jerry-rigged. Jury is from some unknown nautical usage for temporary. jerry is from unknown 19th century (Jerry-built = shoddy) and from WWI/II derogatory British name for a German. Jury-rigged apparently has nothing to do with rigging a jury.

T has released 3 videos for Green, Orange and Red line incidents involving a low speed kiss, battery explosion and derailment:

https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/07/16 ... y-failure/

Arborwayfan wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 6:46 pm Apparently there are portable trip arms and the cars do still have trip cocks. See this series of posts from the runaway thread: https://www.railroad.net/post1361481.html#p1361481.

Not only are the trains equipped with tripcocks, motorized trip arms are still used at two locations on the Red Line. One of them is Ashmont Southbound. Does anyone know the second?

After years of saying, "At least we're not as bad as Washington..." it feels like the tables are really turning. This morning's installment:

https://universalhub.com/2022/explosion ... ridge-over

Orange line fire on the bridge over the Mystic River today

https://www.wcvb.com/article/orange-lin ... /40675879#

An Orange Line train passenger jumped off a bridge and into the Mystic River and dozens of other passengers evacuated through windows of the MBTA train after it caught on fire on a bridge in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Wow (Jaw drop emoji)

https://www.wcvb.com/article/orange-lin ... a/40675879#

An Orange Line train passenger jumped off a bridge and into the Mystic River and dozens of other passengers evacuated through windows of the MBTA train after it caught on fire on a bridge in Somerville, Massachusetts.

I'm at a loss for words at this part of the story...

New cars or old? The flashes were probably shorting out something. This is bad for the T. Something about the T Maintenance of Orange line really needs investigation.

It was one of the old ones, car 1251. The fire seemed to be centered around the lead 3rd rail pickup. https://twitter.com/PJayG/status/155007 ... 76/photo/1

The T is on ! T management is on ! MassDOT is on ! Massachusetts government is on !
Must be due to global warming.

I'm sure Gov. Baker and the state legislature will act in good faith and solve the root problem here instead of using this as an excuse to further defund the system.

Report on cause. A piece (a sill) fell off of the side of the car and shorted against the third rail.

A similar incident happened a few years ago on the Orange line, in a subway station . A piece fell off one train but the short and fire happened when the next train came along.

Unlike in the previous incident where it was about two feet from the windowsill to the platform,, it was about six feet from the windowsill to the ties below on the bridge.

If the train had not already stopped, if someone pulled the emergency handle to unlatch the end door to migrate into the next car, the train will stop. The operator has to go through a number of checks typically ending up walking the full length of the train before s/he can move the train. (S/he and on-ground personnel would also have to make sure any persons on the track nearby had moved to a safe location and the power was restored.)

This can't help MBTA safety concerns
https://www.wcvb.com/article/orange-lin ... a/40675879

They were lucky nobody was electrocuted jumping from the window onto the third rail. The TV said person(s) were almost hit by train coming in the other direction. And good thing the woman jumping off the bridge didn't hit a rock or something.

They stated that this train had just been inspected recently. If so, are the MBTA inspectors incompetent or lazy/corrupt or pressured by supervisors to release trains without inspecting them?

When they reported a piece of the sill fell off, I didn't hear them say window sill, I assumed some kind of perimeter sill that attaches to the car frame / chassis.