OPERATOR'S INATTENTION LED TO COMMUTER TRAIN COLLISION IN MASSACHUSETTS, SAFETY BOARD SAYS

A Boston and Maine commuter train ran into the back of a standing freight train at Brighton, Massachusetts last spring because the commuter's operator failed to interpret properly and comply with the speed restriction mandated by a wayside signal, the National Transportation Safety Board has determined. The Board said the operator was either distracted or inattentive immediately before the collision. The four-car commuter was loaded with rush hour passengers when it collided with a Conrail freight on the morning of May 7, 1986. Of the 550 passengers and 5 crewmembers aboard the commuter, 153 were injured. There were no injuries aboard the freight train. The freight consisted of 72 cars and three locomotive units and was too long to be accommodated by any one track in the Beacon Park Yard. Before the train crew could pull the train into the yard, where a yard crew would separate the train so that another engine could pull the remaining cars off the main track, the commuter rammed into the rear of the freight train. Many passengers were injured by striking exposed metal on seat backs or by dislodged objects from overhead luggage racks. The Safety Board has made repeated recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to improve the crashworthiness of the interiors of passenger cars which to date have gone unheeded. As a result of this accident, the Safety Board is again making similar recommendations to the FRA. The NTSB also issued two safety recommendations to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and praised the response of emergency personnel at the accident site for promptly attending to the passengers.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1987-4-29

Media Info

• Pagination: n.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Commuter cars; Crashes; Crashworthiness; Driver performance; Drivers; Freight trains; Injuries; Motor vehicles; Personnel performance; Speed; Traffic speed; Vehicle design
• Subject Areas: Design; Freight Transportation; Public Transportation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00473283
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1987 12:00AM