Video transcript: Derailment. The latest on the red line. The Eyeopener’s Jennifer Eagan live in South Boston with the breaking details. Jen? Jennifer: Doug, we just got an update from the MBTA. They say trains will be running through this stretch this morning. They will slow down as they rolled through the Broadway stop. Here’s what happened. A car on that Red Line train derailed at the Broadway stop yesterday morning. Some passengers escaped through a window. And later, as crews were trying to re-rail the train, the MBTA says the train rolled away from the platform before they stopped it. The derailment comes just after a pileup, caused by an escalator malfunction at Back Bay station. Advocacy groups are now pushing the governor to make final appointments to a board of directors to oversee the MBTA. Stacy Thompson: A lot in the advocacy community have been saying, look, we’ve told you. So it is never ok when a person is injured or traumatized because of a preventable maintenance issue. Jennifer: the MBTA has been operating without its own governing body for three months. The governor’s office says it is finalizing appointments.
Regularly scheduled service resumed Wednesday morning as an investigation into the derailment of an MBTA Red Line train continues.
A southbound Red Line train, moving at a slow rate of speed, derailed Tuesday morning at Broadway Station and made contact with the edge of the platform, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said. The second car of the six-car train derailed.
MBTA officials said a speed restriction will be in place between South Station and Broadway.
There were no reports of injuries among the 47 people on board.
“Suddenly the train slammed to a stop and then it, not very violently, but, like, suddenly, the train kind of like dragged itself forward for a couple more feet maybe. It was, like, shuttering and loud,” passenger Elisabeth Boyce-Jacino said.
The train was rerailed late Tuesday. Once the train is removed, the track will be inspected.
As the train was rerailed, 5 Investigates has learned that at least one of the Red Line train cars associated with the derailment broke loose and began rolling toward South Station.
No passengers were on board the train, and the car stopped on its own.
“These trains, in the last like two years, the MBTA really needs to be assessed. Something needs to be done about this -- continuous trolley crashes, train fails and things of that nature,” said Shawn Golden, who arrived at Broadway to learn he would have to use shuttles to get to his destination.
“They told me the trains are not running and I had to take the shuttle – a bus with like 60 people on it and people shoved up against each other. With this pandemic, I think that is a very scary situation and a situation that needs to be reassessed,” he said.
5 Investigates has learned the train was traveling at a low rate of speed at the time of the derailment. The car that derailed is an older-style Type 2 car from the mid-1980s.
The driver has 19 years of experience and has a record of being a cautious operator, 5 Investigates has learned.
An escalator malfunction at Back Bay Station that sent nine people to area hospitals Sunday remains under investigation.
Frustrated advocacy groups point to Sunday’s bloody pileup and the crash in July that sent green line passengers to the hospital.
Capital spending on the MBTA is up significantly, but some advocacy groups are demanding more, calling on the Massachusetts governor to appoint a board of directors to oversee the transit agency, which has been operating without its own governing body for 3 months.