The MBTA conducted emergency inspections of all 120 of its Orange Line subway cars and made 13 vehicle repairs after a terrifying Tuesday night incident when a piece of a car fell off, hit the third rail, and sent terrified passengers fleeing from smoke.
"Everybody out of the station! Let's go!!" a T official can be heard shouting to rider in passenger cellphone video made available to necn during the incident at State station about 8:40 p.m. on Tuesday.
MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola said Wednesday inspectors determined that a 1-by-12 foot strip of metal alongside the platform edge of an Orange Line car came loose, hit the third rail, disabled the train from which it fell and the next one after it, and sent smoke spewing into State. Because the second train was stopped short of the station, a safety mechanism prevented the doors from opening. Passengers had to escape through emergency doors at the end of the cars and through kicked-out windows.
From Tuesday night through Wednesday, the T brought in all 120 of its Orange Line cars for inspection at its Wellington shop in Medford. They're all 35 to 37 years old and average 1.6 million miles in service on the rails, according to the T. Inspectors discovered 13 more panels of Orange Line cars with rusted-out bolts and fasteners. Those were immediately fixed. Now the T says it's got no reason to think this problem could happen anytime again soon.
"I hope they can improve the condition of it," said Tyler Granberry, a daily rider from Woburn whom necn interviewed at Assembly station in Somerville, five stops north of State.
What happened at State Tuesday night, he hopes he'll never have to experience.
"I feel pretty safe, but, like, there is that chance that something can go wrong," Granberry said.
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What may be of no reassurance to MBTA riders: Every single one of the Orange Line cars is now 35 to 37 years old, just like the one that literally fell apart at State. "It kind of makes you nervous because you want to get places safely," said Andrew Pickett of Boston. "I feel like they do need to upgrade some of the train cars because it is a little worse for wear."
On the question of replacing the fleet, Corey Lydon of Somerville said: "I think it's about time. I think it's long overdue."
But it will be a long time coming - at least six years. The factory to assemble the new cars isn't even built yet. The $95 million Springfield, Massachusetts, plant where new Orange and Red Line cars are to be assembled won't be done until December of 2017, according to the T.
The first prototype new Orange Line car is due in December 2018. But full production doesn't start, with four cars a month delivered to Boston, until 2019 through 2022, with all of the expanded fleet of 152 new cars due by December 2022. That means four or five more years of MBTA mechanics nursing along many of the cars like the one that fell apart at State Tuesday night before replacements arrive.
DePaola said in the meantime, the Tuesday night incident has triggered a change in the T's inspection regimen for Orange Line cars.
"The MBTA is immediately incorporating a more thorough exterior check of body panel hardware as part of regular maintenance work on Orange Line cars," DePaola said in a statement. "Bolts and rivets of body panels will now be examined every 12 thousand miles, which is approximately every eight or nine weeks, when Orange Line cars are taken into a garage for scheduled comprehensive maintenance. This maintenance already includes checks of the safety system, evacuation equipment, propulsion system, brake system, suspension system, communication system, doors, wheels, lights, seating, and other interior compartment items."
