UPDATE, 10:10 p.m.: The Globe reports the trapped operator, Terrese Edmonds, has died.
UPDATE, 9 p.m.: One operator still trapped.
Channel 5 reports two Riverside trolleys collided around 6 p.m. near the Woodland stop. Channel 4 has more, says one train was stopped at a red signal. Operator of the second train trapped, eight people seriously injured.
WBZ Radio reported helicopters and ambulances to ferry the more severely injured to hospitals; walking wounded slowly making their way to the train stop.
Staging area set up at Brae Burn Country Club. Initial emergency reports.
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Comments
I hope she wasn't on the phone
By bumptoe
Thu, 05/29/2008 - 7:14pm
No matter what the cause, it's still tragic, but if it turns out she was on the phone, I hope this scares the pants off of every T operator into not doing it, because they do plenty. I've seen it on the B line, the 70 & 66, and reported it to the T when I've been able to jot down the vehicle number. It's bad enough people talk on cells while driving cars/trucks/bicycles, but to do so while operating a HUGE HEAVY machine full of people is not acceptable.
I've seen it more times than
By Arborway
Thu, 05/29/2008 - 7:18pm
I've seen it more times than I can count, and it should be an automatic suspension every time. There are [i]plenty[/i] of people lined up to take a job on the Green Line, and MBTA managers and the union just need to get with it and lay down the law.
Actually, if reported, it's
By anon
Thu, 05/29/2008 - 11:26pm
Actually, if reported, it's a three day suspension for the first offense, ten days for the second and fired for the third time.
Green Line radios
By Neal
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 10:04am
MBTA Green Line trolleys (and I think buses) are equipped with radios that have a handset that looks very much like a telephone. If she was talking to dispatch on it before or during the crash, I can see how eyewitnesses might conclude that she was on a cell phone.
I know of the radios you're
By Arborway
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 10:09am
I know of the radios you're talking about, and they look like 1960s Ma Bell handsets, not like a cell phone.
Maybe so
By Neal
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 10:57am
But eyewitness accounts can be very unreliable. One person may see an operator talking on a radio handset while another person sees that same handset as a cell phone.
In any case
By Gareth
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 11:02am
Eyewitness testimony is not necessary to establish whether she was on the phone. That's what phone company records are for. No need to speculate.
some news reports said
By anon
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 2:18pm
some news reports said witnesses said the subway car driver was texting just before the impact. Also, the father said in a tv interview that he often called her on her cell phone when she was at work. When he suspected she was the driver in the accident, he repeatedly tried to call her on her cell phone.
She probably used her cell phone often while driving the subway car.
I would hesitate
By Gareth
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 2:24pm
I would hesitate to jump to such a conclusion.
Determination of whether or not she was on the phone at or prior to the crash will not be difficult. I am content to wait.
Not the brakes or tracks
By adamg
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 8:22pm
Investigators rule both out as possible cause; no evidence Edmonds ever applied the brakes.
At least this deflates the
By Arborway
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 8:47pm
At least this deflates the "WTF THE GREEN LINE IS A HORRIBLY MAINTAINED POS!" hysteria that the media has been trying to whip up for the past few days.
Partly true
By SwirlyGrrl
Fri, 05/30/2008 - 10:13pm
They haven't ruled out a signal error yet.
Speed kills
By adamg
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 9:35am
Train sped before crash, NTSB says.
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