mbta

Workers OK after Red Line train fails to stop for track maintenance crew

No one was hurt in the incident, which was the second of its kind in a week-long period

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A Red Line train failed to come to a halt for a crew that was doing track inspections, despite someone flagging the train to stop, according to an MBTA spokesman, who said this week's incident was preceded by a similar one last week.

No one was hurt during the incidents, which are being investigated by the MBTA; the Federal Transit Administration and the Department of Public Utilities have also been notified.

General Manager Phillip Eng says the MBTA has "more work to do" after the FTA again raised serious safety concerns in a new letter.

The MBTA said that on Monday, shortly before noon, two people were working on track inspections between the Harvard and Porter stops on the Red Line, when a flagger signaled for an oncoming train to stop. The train failed to do so, but neither worker was hurt.

The train's motor person is not in service amid the investigation, the T said.

While the transportation agency was interviewing the crew about Monday's incident, one of them said that something similar happened a week prior in the same area. The MBTA consequently launched an investigation into that incident as well, upon learning about it from the crew.

The MassINC survey asked 1,000 people who live in 175 communities served by the MBTA.

In response, Red Line operators were given safety briefings before their shifts on Tuesday.

General Manager Phillip Eng also met with other managers, as well as the inspection teams to talk about ways to improve safety.

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