The T worker in question walks through smokey car. Photo by Christopher J. Ternus.
An inbound Red Line train that left Harvard at 11:54 this morning finally made it to Central at 12:37 p.m. - pushed there by another train - the MBTA reports.
Christian J. Ternus tweets:
Just got off Red Line train that caught fire. Train filled with smoke.
MBTA operator lost her keys and couldn't get into cab to call for help. Operator told passengers not to ride Red Line in bad weather. "MBTA doesn't spend enough to make it safe." Passengers were having asthma & panic attacks. MBTA op described this as "passengers complaining." Train was *On Fire.*
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo says there was no fire on the train, adds:
The train operator did not lose her keys nor make any safety-related announcements on the intercom. The tweet was in reference to another MBTA employee who had boarded the train to investigate the cause of the power problem. The employee attempted to open a door at the end of a Red Line car, but was unable because she did not have a key. This employee made some comments to another employee that were picked up by one or more customers (one of whom then tweeted). Both employees have been identified and both have submitted statements to supervisors. The head of the Red Line is investigating.
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Comments
The MBTA should get their
By ihateboston
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 2:11pm
The MBTA should get their shit together before they start raising fares. I would've been *pissed* if I was on that train this morning!
unfortunately
By anon
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 2:35pm
the MBTA system is woefully underfunded. major investment is needed in order to properly maintain its subway trains and other vehicles.
To be fair
By anon
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 2:14pm
there are a lot of situations that can cause smoke on the train, without their actually being a fire. I think the MBTA is playing with technicalities here.
"There was no fire," does not mean, "There was no unhealthy smoke conditions," but most people will interpret it that way. Sneaky.
Think there might be a
By Nathan Phillips
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 3:21pm
Think there might be a connection between the preceding blog post and this one?
Red Line
By Robin Ray
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 3:33pm
There was also a broken Red Line train earlier this morning at JFK. It seems only a matter of time before something really catastrophic occurs.
Hilarious
By Scratchie
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 3:48pm
"MBTA operator lost her keys and couldn't get into cab to call for help. Operator told passengers not to ride Red Line in bad weather." Probably should avoid it when the operator is too fucking stupid to hold onto her keys, too.
You're all right, Scratchie
By Will LaTulippe
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 7:21pm
I see you.
"This employee made some
By Spatch
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 5:31pm
"This employee made some comments to another employee that were picked up by one or more customers (one of whom then tweeted). Both employees have been identified and both have submitted statements to supervisors. The head of the Red Line is investigating."
Investigating what? The train that caught on fire, or the employee who had the (gasp!) audacity to complain about crap maintenance while trying to help?
I really hope it's not the latter, cause that'd be some seriously misguided management there.
Journocide
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 6:51pm
Killing the messenger for stating the obvious is nothing new in these parts. The problem isn't the problem - the person who tries to bring attention to the problem must be destroyed!
All of the motorpersons are
By anon
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 8:15pm
All of the motorpersons are supposed to have authority-issued portable radios, so they don't have to rely only on the radio in the cab to communicate. If they lost their keys, there is also an emergency access lever to unlock the cab door. If a claim was made that someone was locked out of a cab without a radio, MBTA management needs to investigate why they didn't have a portable radio or keys. Sounds like, from the MBTA response, that it was in fact not the motorperson but an inspector responding to the disabled train that was witnessed without a radio or keys. That person though is expected to have keys and a radio as well. If they responded without either, they could be in trouble.
Extra employee
By ringrose
Sun, 03/10/2013 - 11:03pm
I believe there is some confusion in the reporting.
I saw sparks and a brief (large) flame when it happened. There was a lot of smoke, but no further fire as far as I can tell.
There were three employees who ended up on the train:
1. the operator of the train, who I believe had keys and radio.
2. an operator who happened to be taking this train to the one she was going to run.
3. an inspector who came in the back of the train late in the process.
The second operator was not running this train, and therefore had neither keys nor radio. She helped keep the passengers calm.
I don't recall if the inspector had one.
This article was the first mention I heard of someone missing keys or radio.
over $1,000,000 a day
By anon
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 8:03pm
The MBTA takes in over $1,000,000 a day. Woefully underfunded? There are secret rooms in all the tunnels and maintenance yards where the maintenance workers have couches with TVs and Xboxes that they hide out in instead of working.
Really? Have you ever been in
By BostonUrbEx (no...
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 8:36am
Really? Have you ever been in the tunnels? They get covered in this awful greasy soot. It even goes in your nose. Ever sneeze after hanging around in an MBTA station for a while?
The place would be impossible to keep clean. Not to mention the leaks/flooding, ridiculous noise levels and shaking, mice/small rats all over the place. Not to mention, how exactly do you get a couch into a maintenance closet in a tunnel?
Don't be ridiculous. I've yet to come across any abandoned or disused MBTA properties where there's a luxury fort built into a closet.
Small areas in maintenance yards? Maybe. MBCR busted one up sometime two years ago. But I think the problem with financials is going to go well beyond a dozen employees (at most) kickin' it back and playing Call of Duty for half their shift.
Who Knew?!
By anon
Fri, 03/08/2013 - 8:13pm
Who knew that the T could resemble so effectively the whole US Government system? (It's messed up, so you come out with misinformation, misdirected blame, and painting the situation in bright, rainbow colors for all to believe that "Everything's Fine!"
Shame on all of you.
By anon
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 6:54am
If I was on a disabled train that even smelled like smoke, never mind filled with smoke, i would have gotten off that thing and walked to the next station. Forget about the employee looking for keys or whatever, kick the window out and get off. Bunch of pussy's.
You've never been on a Red Line train, have you?
By Miss M
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 12:15pm
Kick out a window. That's funny.
When you kick out that window
By Nancy
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 12:20pm
make sure it's not on the same side as the third rail. I've heard it's not good to walk on it.
anon is right in this respect
By anon
Sun, 03/10/2013 - 12:04pm
the MBTA or any other 'authority' is not going to respond to passive-aggressiveness. However, they do stand to attention and take serious notice of legitimate complaints when there's more aggressive action taken by the whiners...er, complainers. If MBTA passengers [and airport passengers dealing with the TSA, etc.,] started to really revolt when such situations occur [in Brazil, passengers got so pissed when a train broke down, they rioted, starting a bonfire with the train...authorities took their 'whining' seriously.], the state, MBTA, unions, etc., would absolutely take the situation far more seriously. Up to now, they know at most people will complain through 'appropriate' channels [which is a joke of course], maybe 'whine' on blogs like UHUB.
KGB
By anon
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 7:18am
The MBTA should change its initials to KGB. First they try to intimidate passengers with their "papers please policing" now they are investigating employees who dare to comment about mismanagement.
Missed Opportunity
By Michael
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 8:42am
A captive audience like that for that long? Would have been a perfect time for a T representative to discuss the need for fare hikes and/or service cuts.
A contrasting first person account
By Chenoameg
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 9:31am
On the Red Line from Harvard to Central, and suddenly there's a shower of sparks and a gout of flame (outside the train, fortunately). The train comes to a halt, and I end up spending somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour stuck in a car full of smoke. Well, at least our car had lights.
At non-peak times they have one operator on the entire six car train. This means that if something happens nobody can update the passengers, and the single operator has to walk the entire train to try and solve it.
In our case, there was a very nice operator who was riding (going to the next train she was going to run, I think). It meant she had no keys or communication, but knew procedure enough to tell people what was happening and keep them relaxed. And when the operator finally got to our car they could leave the doors at the end of the car open to let the smoke out, because someone was there to keep an eye on it.
I'm pretty sure that what happened was a motor blew. Then they had the next train come, push ours into Central, unload ours, move forward, unload itself, and the whole thing went away to get off the tracks.
Confirming this account
By rider
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 1:32pm
I was also on this train, and we were lucky to have an off duty T person with us. At first we couldn't reach the train operator through the emergency intercom, and with all the smoke filling the car, people might have started to panic, had she not explained to us that the driver would be coming through to check each car. Once she did and the door was opened, we all relaxed.
The T employee who happened to be in our car should be credited with making a very scary situation bearable. The other employees also did their best to address the problem and get us moving.
My main concern after this is what can passengers do if a subway car *is* filling with smoke, and no one arrives to open a door. Is there a way to break the doors or windows? I was looking around (in case the driver for some reason couldn't get to us) and couldn't see how we would do it.
Luckily, we weren't in that situation, and I'll always feel lucky that that wonderful T employee was in our car and that the rest of us remained calm and were quite friendly with one another.
There's the lever by each end
By anon
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 8:40pm
There's the lever by each end door that says "pull to apply breaks and unlock doors", or something of that nature
I keep wondering how many
By Kathode
Sat, 03/09/2013 - 1:56pm
Current or former T riders are being treated with drugs and/or therapy due to a fear of being trapped and having one big, long panic attack.
Yep.
By kookyann
Sun, 03/10/2013 - 8:41pm
Right here.
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