WASHINGTON — A Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line train was speeding and passed a red signal before colliding with a parked train in a Feb. 9 incident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board preliminary investigation report released today (March 6, 2025).
Two passengers and four crew members suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the collision at the East Somerville station in Somerville, Mass., at about 12:22 a.m. [see “Five hurt as MBTA Green Line trains collide,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 9, 2025]. The collision caused an estimated $6.6 million in damage, according to the MBTA.
The report says a review of event recorder and signal data indicates the in-service train, with two crew members and six passengers aboard, was traveling about 32 mph when it entered a 25-mph zone, passed the red signal, and entered the 10-mph zone at the station where it struck the stationary train.
It is the second incident in less than six months where the NTSB has found a Green Line train was exceeding the speed limit and ran a red signal. In an Oct. 1, 2024, derailment in Cambridge, Mass., a train was found to be traveling at 36 mph in a 10-mph zone when it derailed at a switch that was still moving into the correct position [see “MBTA Green Line train ran red signal …,” News Wire, Oct. 16, 2024]. Seven people were injured.
The report says the ongoing investigation will focus on vehicle crashworthiness, human performance, internal and external safety oversight, and operating procedures.
