Both Boston and Chicago had incidents on their "Green Line" commuter lines.
Boston: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1097116&pos=breaking
http://wbztv.com/local/green.line.train.2.735082.html
Chicago: http://cbs2chicago.com/local/green.line.derailment.2.734591.html
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
It's not easy being green...
Both of them, at this point, seem to be human error. Those latter-day trolleys in Boston don't seem to afford much collision protection to the motorman.
I just read something today about slowdowns in Washington, D.C. to permit track repairs because of a previous derailment on--you guessed it--their Green Line.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
That Boston colision really hit home for me, I've traveled on that line several times, from Riverside into Boston. Rail colisions always seem so far away, and don't really seem real. Then when one happens near you, it's hard to beleive it actually happened.
My condolances to the victims of this horrible and preventable wreck.
The Boston "Green Lines" are severial lines, they run in a subway downtown and then fan out on the surface when in the suburbs. The Green Line is the oldest Subway in the United States. THIS Green Line is a High Speed Line using LRVs on a former Boston & Albany double track commuter line, on which the MBTA strung overhead wires, and using the "old" original B&A Stations. It connects a commuter parking lot on I-95 to downtown Boston (by way of Fenway Park).
Automatic Signals "should" have prevented this. The 24 year old woman "Operator" was killed making this an NTSB case.
While the Green Line is run with LRV Trolleys, Boston also has 3 other true Subway Lines, the Orange Line, the Blue Line, and the Red Line.
Don U. TCA 73-5735
I read about the MBTA incident a bit after it happened. The ends of those cars were obliterated. Makes me wonder just how safe these cars are.... The Kinki Sharyo cars are the most common on the system....
Dave
ndbprr wrote:Apparently the experienced "motorwoman" here in Chicago ran a red signal and went through a switch alligned for a different route, A CTA spokesman said more training was needed. More training for a woman who has been doing this for some time and probably makes $60-75k a year. Remind me to stay off the els if I ever get the urge to ride one.
Small point: the operator was male. I don't think "retraining" is a countermeasure for running a stop signal, followed by willfully overriding a safety feature that had stopped the train.
Having said that, though, I'd say that it's probably safer to ride the L than it is to take a bus, ride in a cab, or even (or should that be "especially") drive in the city.
The 24 year old operator may have been talking or texting on her cell phone. Just heard that on the news. You cant train someone to pay attention to thier job.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
And she paid with her life!!!
It took 7 hours to get the body out of the cab.
locoi1sa wrote: The NTSB just announced that the brakes were not applied on the following trolly. The operator was schooled for 3 days and had 2 days with another operator before given her own trolly. 5 days of training to be an engineere and in charge of hundreds of lives every trip seems kind of lax to me. What ever happened to the apprentice programs? Can I run a freight train with only 5 days of training?
Without knowing all of the facts, I seriously doubt that the operator was a new hire with just five days of training. Did she transfer from bus operations, did she work in the shops and move equipment as part of her job, etc, etc, etc. These are all factors that the NTSB will investigate before they issue their final report.
Compiled from various reports: 2 car LRV Trains
The woman who died in the crash was 24 years old, was hired from a waiting list last summer, went through training (including supervised operation), and was given certification to operate last October.
No failure was found in Track (by chance, the Geometry Car had run the day before the accident and has been run now after the crash) or Trolleys (brakes good, no defects) , speed limit on that stretch is 40 mph, forward speed of the first train moving out was 4 mph, ramming speed of the second train was 37-38 mph, no signs of brake application (sand drops when Emergency is triggered). Cell phone records of the Operator has been requested.
Service resumed yesterday but will be stopped this afternoon to run simulated speed tests.
Per WHDH Channel 7 on-line news.
All signals working, the raming train stopped a Waban Station with a RED signal. It then COULD move forward on Restricted Approach, not to exceed 10 mph. It left the Station and accelerated to nearly track speed, 38 mph.
In New England, NESN (New England Sports Network, the Red Sox owned cable station) has been showing details and interviews. A Red Sox Office Inturn was on the train, minor injuries, and helped with the rescues.
ArtOfRuin wrote:It's disconcerting to read the newspaper editorial asking people if they think it's safe to use the T in light of all the problems it's had recently.
Yeah, especially as the alternative is Boston traffic....
What is the minimum age for operators now? Does some aspect of today's employment law prevent a higher number than, say, 21? As we know, different aspects of maturity kick in at different ages (if ever!) and of course each individual is unique, but maybe the employers are now limited in their discretion.
When my late father got hired by Los Angeles Railway in 1939, he was just 22, but he could only get on as a conductor (not a motorman) as he was under 25.
Translation of this company rule: They'd trust him with the money, they'd trust him with the records, they'd trust him to be courteous to the customers, and they'd trust him with the timekeeping, but they would NOT trust him to drive the thing until he was older. Reasonable.
Latest from Boston, 6/11/08
The Green Line Operator was NOT on her Cell Phone at the time of the accident.
She tested NEGATIVE for Alcohol and Drugs.
Reason for the wreck???????? NTSB has a year to find out. Just in case, new rule, MBTA will suspend any operator using a Cell Phone on duty. (that's why they have radios)
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