It Really Hasn’t Been Your Week, Red Line
Photo by Olga Khvan
It’s been a rough week for the Red Line, and not a single flurry of snow has landed yet.
Straphangers experienced “severe delays” in both directions on their morning commute Thursday, due to a disabled train at North Quincy station around 7:25. Meanwhile, the Green Line’s E branch saw “minor delays” due to a disabled train in Brigham Circle was reported an hour earlier.
Earlier this morning, MBTA officials reported that an inbound Red Line train departed Braintree station without an operator, making no station stops until operations personnel de-powered the third rail and brought it to a halt. T personnel boarded the phantom train and piloted it to JFK/UMass, where passengers—none injured—were asked to exit. An MBTA employee was struck by the train and suffered minor injuries.
“Passenger safety is the highest priority for the MBTA and this highly troubling incident is under investigation by Transit Police detectives,” MBTA general manager Frank DePaola said in a statement.
Investigators are looking into a report of a safety device within the train’s cab may have been tampered with.
Baker on Herald Radio: "this was an isolated incident, a tampered train." Investigation ongoing. #MBTA
— Katie Lannan (@katielannan) December 10, 2015
On Tuesday, a man was hit by a train at the Broadway station around 6:55 p.m. Transit police say the man was trespassing when he was struck. He was hospitalized with serious injuries, while buses replaced trains between Park Street and JFK/UMass.
First shuttle bus just showed up at JFK/UMass. Let's just say it won't fit everyone. #mbta #redline
— Tim Logan (@bytimlogan) December 10, 2015
On Wednesday, a woman, also believed to be trespassing by transit police, was struck and killed by a northbound Red Line train at Downtown Crossing. The woman, approximately 42 years old, was pronounced dead as a result of her injuries.
Police are investigating both incidents.
