Red Line train with passengers on board rumbled down tracks without a driver this morning

By adamg on Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:18am

The T is investigating how a Red Line train managed to travel several miles from Braintree to the Neponset River without a driver at the controls.

Equipment tampering is one of the things investigators are looking at; trains aren't supposed to just move on their own volition, let alone travel several miles. The Herald reports the FBI is now on the case.

MassDOT reports:

At approximately 6:08 AM, an inbound Red Line train departed Braintree Station, without an operator.

The train made no station stops, proceeded north just past North Quincy Station, when MBTA Operations personnel de-powered the third rail, bringing the train to a complete stop.

T personnel boarded the train, and operated it north to JFK/UMass, where passengers were asked to exit the train on to the platform, so it could be taken out of service and examined. No passengers were injured.

MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola calls the incident "highly troubling" and says Transit Police are involved in the investigation.

The investigation includes a look into an initial report that a safety device within the train’s cab may have been tampered with. Investigators are interviewing witnesses and the train operator.

Red Line trains are equipped with a dead man's switch, which is supposed to stop a train should enough pressure not be applied to the speed controller, for example, if the driver suddenly collapses or is not present.

WFXT reports a passenger on the train noticed "something tied around the control panel."

Channel 7 interviews a passenger.

Neighborhoods:

Quincy

Topics:

The T

Free tagging:

Red Line

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Comments

Someone has to get the

By CharliesGhost
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:20am

Someone has to get the Braintree trains running on time and now you people complain when I help!

Great to see the trains can operate safely without manpower

By O-FISH-L
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:22am

It's just a matter of time before the trains can legitimately operate without manpower. Might free up some of the funding for the Green Line Extension.

so would

By Scumquistador
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:27am

taking away the presence of overpaid police at anything that smells like construction

Stay on target, Gold Leader.

By TommyJeff
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:38am

This is a story about choo-choo's, scum.

Because automatic operation

By roadman
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:29am

has worked so well in other cities

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2009_Washington...

Boston's Subway Is Too Old To Automate — Oh, Wait ...

By Elmer
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:07am

[youtube]QoH-2g-j59A[/youtube]
[youtube]snk3paFB1e8[/youtube]

And non-automated trains don't crash?

By bosguy22
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:05pm

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...

Because yet it has!

By fietsdavid
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:09am

Better operations, increased frequency, higher safety (reducing human error), reduced delay...

http://www.citylab.com/tech/2015/04/the-case-for-d...

Because anecdote

By Kaz
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:38am

One incident...in how many driverless trips? I'm pretty sure I need to take my shoes off to count how many driver incidents the MBTA has had since 2009 alone.

The 2009 Washington Metro crash was the culmination

By roadman
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:58am

of several years of incidents on the system, most of which involved failings of the automatic systems and could have been prevented had WMATA management heeded the recommendations of the NTSB.

Or the MBTA

By BostonDog
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:21pm

I'm going by memory but as I recall in the DC accident the failure was a result of faulty sensors. The MBTA's orange line used the same sensors only the staff discovered the problem before an incident. For a while the orange line was running with human inspectors standing by the side of the track and radioing the position of the train to ensure safety. The MBTA called their DC counterparts -- who they knew used the same sensors -- to warn them of the problem. Apparently the warning wasn't heeded.

The MBTA deserves credit for detecting and problem, mitigating the problem, and even warning others of the same issue.

Actually, the MBTA identified

By roadman
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:24pm

the problem with the Orange Line sensors because it was brought to their attention by the NTSB, who also informed other systems of the problem, including the WAMTA.

DC Metro utilizes the same

By markg
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:55pm

DC Metro utilizes the same signaling system as the Red Line.

The NTSB blamed blamed a faulty signal module for the accident. Contributing factors were a poor safety culture and poor maintenance practices see; http://goo.gl/RD0kpK sound familiar. Given MBTA culture and under funding, problems it shares with Metro it should make you think, Without careful maintenance a similar problem could happen on the T.

DC metro trains are manned. The operator who died in the accident failed to stop the train because she followed the signals and her view of the track ahead was restricted. Happily there have been no similar failures, that we know about on the Red line.

You can be sure the T checked their systems for the specific problem[s] found in DC as soon as it was understood. The key is continuing maintenance not an MBTA strong suit.

Yes, DC metro trains are manned

By roadman
Fri, 12/11/2015 - 10:12am

But, until the 2009 crash, the trains were run in automatic mode. The "operator" merely rode along to monitor things, and wasn't actively driving the train.

Because a new piece of

By anon
Fri, 12/11/2015 - 12:36pm

Because a new piece of technology failed, once, we should never try to use it again. Let's keep doing things the nineteenth-century way.

Yours is an argument from

By anon
Fri, 12/11/2015 - 12:40pm

Yours is an argument from fear of new/unknown things.

Train accidents involving manned trains and "operator error": Hundreds. But that's how we've always done it. Train accidents involving newfangled automation: One. But it's new, so let's go back to the old ways. (The one with hundreds of accidents on record.)

If I were to rationally pick between these, which would I go with?

Prediction

By Lunchbox
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:30am

1. Culpable employee(s) get fired

2. Union grieves

3. Arbitrator reinstates with back pay

I really hope you are wrong

By Kinopio
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:32am

I really hope you are wrong and it ends at #1

in that scenario

By Scumquistador
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:33am

its almost certain to end at #2 before it ends at #1

is there a way to stop the train without turning off the third

By cinnamngrl
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:32am

Rail? Would they have gone all the way to Alewife (or rear ended another train?) that's pretty scary

Great point - how did the train not rear end another train?

By Nancy
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:39am

Were the other trains running so efficiently that they were perfectly timed and this one never got close to it?

Operators on the Outbound side didn't notice anything awry?

This is a curious case indeed.

Given how the Red Line normally runs

By roadman
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:45am

I'm willing to bet that there wasn't another train in the section between Braintree and Andrew at the time.

If I understand correctly,

By aldos
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:48am

the Red Line has a signaling system that automatically applies the brakes to any train that is about to enter a section of track that is already occupied by another train. Therefore, the train would automatically slow down or stop before hitting any other trains (or the end of the line), but would likely then accelerate again once the track ahead was clear.

It was at six in the morning

By jmeltzer
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:06am

It may have been the first train.

(edit: Well, no. The first one left at 5:15 AM. )

Skipped stops

By beb37
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:30pm

I was on the train before this. We were told that there was an emergency (nothing more) and that we were bypassing North Quincy - passengers wanting to get off would need to go to JFK/UMass and take a southbound train back. As we approached JFK/UMass, they repeated there was an emergency and that we were not stopping there either.

What was really odd to me is that the train I was on left Braintree a few minutes late - according to the board, the next train was set to leave in 3 minutes.

Unless there was a major fault

By roadman
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:42am

with the signal receiving equipment on the train, it is highly unlikely that the train would have not made it past JFK-UMass Station, as it would have been tripped by the signals protecting the junction with the Ashmont line.

Likewise, it is highly unlikely that the runaway, if left unattended, would have collided with another train.

The dead-man's switch sounds

By R Hookup
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:47am

The dead-man's switch sounds like it was the primary fail/safe and that failed.

Yes

By Ari O
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:58am

It's called the emergency brake. If a passenger had noticed (and apparently someone did) don't call the police and get patched through to the T. Wait until a train is nearing a station and pull the E brake. That will dump the air, and that will bring the train to a halt, quickly. And then you can evacuate off the train there at a platform, rather than down the middle of the track.

I am not going to go in to how easy it would be for a member of the general pubic to get in to the cab of a train, but it would be, let's just say, less than impossible. Actually having all the equipment to allow a control stand to operate without a human seems a lot harder.

I guess you have to be pretty

By Tollhouse
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:44am

I guess you have to be pretty familiar with how the T operates to be brave enough to pull the ebrake. For instance, does the operator always sit in the front car? How would you know the train was a runaway? I've been on at least one train where the car I was in the doors didn't open and we went past a couple stops.

Do you?

By Ari O
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 3:29pm

If I'm on a train that skips a couple of stations without the operator saying "THIS TRAIN IS GOING EXPRESS" fifteen times I figure something is wrong. If, as has been reported, the power is shut down and the train begins to coast (and I'd assume the lights would be off) I would have no qualms about waiting for the next station and pulling the brake. If you got it just right you could maybe even spot the train right at the platform (I'd wait until about halfway in to the station, depending on the speed, before dumping the air).

Unfortunately, Red Line PA systems

By GoSoxGo
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 4:04pm

are either broken or sound like Charlie Brown's teacher, more often than not.

Seinfeld - Kramer's bus story

By kvn
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 3:43pm

Seinfeld - Kramer's bus story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8RoH-ky6Kw&featur...

yeesh

By Malcolm Tucker
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:36am

[img]https://kidfromthe6ix.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/...

This is an entirely new level

By ChrisInEastie
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:39am

of incompetence.

Even if it was somehow tampered with, the fact that someone even had the ability to do so, let alone was successful, blows my mind. And if it was some crazy mechanical failure, it seems like there are at least two separate components that failed: Whatever put it in motion, and the "dead man's switch." This seems highly improbable if properly maintained.

I'd call for heads to roll and fines upon fines upon fines, but it seems every time "leadership" (can we really even call it that?) turns over, the picture just seems to get even more grim when the new powers that be bring in the consultants and release their "analysis." And the last thing we need to do is suck more money out of this system.

At a complete loss here.

I'd call for heads to roll

By Scratchie
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:45am

I'd call for heads to roll and fines upon fines upon fines

I'm going to hold my breath!

Aiming for

By ChrisInEastie
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:47am

a world record?

I blame Google

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:25am

I blame Google - those driverless cars? Gave this train ideas.

Pop quiz, hotshot!

By aldos
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:44am

There's a train with no driver barreling down the Red Line. Someone tampered with the dead man's switch. What do you do? What do you do?!?!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlS2xnW-LY8[/youtube]

Well hello there

By Nancy
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:04am

Yeah, I'd get on a runaway Red Line train if the end result was being saved by Keanu.

well..

By anon
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:23am

1994 Keanu.

Because if Constantine wants to save me, then I'll be seeing you all at Alewife.

Whoa.

By jmeltzer
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 1:19pm

Whoa.

Nice Simpsons reference.

By Eliyahu
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 1:38pm

Nice Simpsons reference.

Wait, what? So was this train

By Finn
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:47am

Wait, what? So this train was just blowing past stations, not letting people on or off? Was there a second operator? Was there any kind of control over the train at all? What kind of speed did the train reach? This is beyond belief....or more like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOXD_g0cSpw

Guards we removed several years ago

By Ari O
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:47am

But, yes, I'm sure no one would complain about having too many redundant staff on the trains.

Naughty train!

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:50am

Perhaps that train had been reading Thomas the Tank Engine!
Stop Train, Stop!

Don't you mean Go, Train, Go!

By anon
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:16pm

Don't you mean Go, Train, Go!

WCVB Report

By ChrisInEastie
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:52am

Has some additional info:

Sources tell 5 Investigates Kathy Curran that the operator got off the inbound train just after 6 a.m. in Braintree to check a problem. The train began to move, and the operator was struck.

Gov. Charlie Baker said multiple times in an interview with Boston Herald radio Thursday that the train had been tampered with but said he couldn't go into details because the investigation was ongoing.

"This train was tampered with, and it was tampered with by someone who knows what he was doing," Baker said.

Express Train?!?!?

By apkmax
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 10:53am

So did all the passengers on board think that they were on some express train to downtown? No one thought of pulling the emergency brake or are those things really just a signal sent to the (absent) driver?

The passengers were

By Scratchie
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:00am

The passengers were presumably happy to be getting to work on time.

"Best service of 2015. 10/10

By Robert Paulson
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 2:41pm

"Best service of 2015. 10/10 would ride again"

The Taking of Braintree 6-0-8

By Chris77
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:07am

The Taking of Braintree 6-0-8.

I won't REALLY start to worry

By Michael
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:08am

...until the 66 bus starts driving on its own

The 70, baby!!

By Chris77
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 4:01pm

The 70, baby!!

The inevitable Twitter account

By adamg
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:15am

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride Nobody's gonna slow me down Oh no, I've got to keep on moving #RedLine pic.twitter.com/iy8yACsC7z

— Red Line Ghost Train (@ghosttrainred) December 10, 2015

Sing it Matthew Wilder

By cybah
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:19am

[youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy46iOwWQiE [/youtube]

(on Solid Gold no less!)

no..no...

By John-W
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:35am

you mean this:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRtvqT_wMeY[/youtube]

Sorry, Arlo

By Michael
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:20am

Good morning, Wollaston, how are ya
Don't you know me, I'm your native son
I'm the train they call the Red Line up to Alewife
I'll be gone 5 or six miles 'fore they shut me down

Sorry

By roadman
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:23am

~~Arlo~~ Steve Goodman

FIFY

Sorry to him too

By Michael
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:24am

I knew I should have double checked

Steve Goodman

By Allstonian
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 12:29pm

Hubby and I just had a conversation about Steve Goodman the other day - specifically about the fact that he died way too young, is sadly under-appreciated, and his most famous song is famous for a rendition by somebody else.

But gained more name

By R Hookup
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 1:44pm

But gained more name recognition because of the version of a different song he wrote that David Allen Coe sang.

You Never Even Called Me by

By Southside Georgie
Thu, 12/10/2015 - 11:03pm

You Never Even Called Me by My Name?

I love me some Steve Goodman. No, lots of Steve Goodman. Who else can bring me back to memories of Ross Cascio and Lincoln Towing after 45 years of living in Boston? Great Chicago Jewish boy who died way too soon. Even though he was a, shudder, misguided Cubs fan.

--gpm

Red Line train with passengers on board rumbled down tracks without a driver this morning

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