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Oct 17, 2023

Timeline: How the MBTA reached a crossroads with federal regulators over safety issues

Officials with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority are facing a

Officials with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority are facing a Monday deadline to submit a revised strategy to address a host of workplace safety issues after federal officials rejected a previous plan, saying it didn't address the problems quickly enough.

The transit agency has been under federal oversight for more than a year after a succession of mishaps, crashes, and fatalities that drew the attention of the Federal Transit Administration, which in a report last summer blasted the MBTA for poor management and prioritizing long-term projects at the expense of daily safety and operations.

Here is a look back on the major events for the transit system since the summer of 2021 and what led to this critical juncture.

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Twenty-five people are injured after one Green Line train rear-ended another by Boston University during a Friday evening commute. The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded that the train was traveling more than 20 mph over the speed limit and the driver did not apply the brakes before the crash.

An ascending escalator at the Back Bay MBTA station suddenly reversed at a high speed, sending a crowd of people tumbling to the bottom. Nine people were taken to the hospital with injuries and witnesses described a terrifying scene.

Robbi Sausville Devine, 68, is killed when a commuter rail train struck her car as she was passing through a railroad crossing in Wilmington. Officials said a worker failed to restore a railroad crossing safety system less than an hour before the fatal crash.

Robinson Lalin, 39, is killed after his arm became stuck between the sliding doors of a Red Line train and he was dragged across the platform at Broadway Station. His family is now suing the MBTA, alleging that Lalin's death was caused by the MBTA's negligence.

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Shortly after Lalin's death, the FTA informed the MBTA that it is "extremely concerned with the ongoing safety issues" and will assume "an increased safety oversight role."

Construction vehicles carrying tools derail three times in as many days from May 7 to 9. No injuries were reported.

Two Green Line trains crash at Government Center station, sending three train operators to the hospital with injuries, according to the MBTA. No passengers were injured.

In a grim assessment of safety at the MBTA, the FTA said it found dispatchers logging 20-hour days, runaway trains injuring workers, operators and supervisors working with expired safety certifications, and no immediate plans to fix track sections in disrepair. The FTA orders the T to increase staff at its operations control center immediately, improve general safety operating procedures, and address delayed track maintenance and safety recertifications for employees whose credentials have lapsed.

Passengers knocked out windows and scrambled to escape an old Orange Line train after it caught fire while crossing the Mystic River into Somerville. One person leapt from the bridge into the river and swam to safety. The MBTA said a metal side panel on the train broke off and touched the high-voltage third rail, causing the flames. Governor Charlie Baker called the fire a "colossal failure."

The entire length of the Orange Line from Malden to Jamaica Plain is shut down for 30 days of repairs. The work included upgrading thousands of feet of track to eliminate slow zones.

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Federal transportation officials release a 90-page report that details broad failures at the agency — too few workers, too little training and maintenance, and weak safeguards — while condemning management in recent years and the state's oversight. The FTA orders the MBTA to increase staffing, improve communication with front-line workers, and bolster safety checks, among dozens of directives.

Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey hold a hearing in Boston to question MBTA leaders and state regulators. Warren says the "list of management failures is a long one" and Markey presses MBTA leaders to improve communications with the public. The hearing, which focused on safety concerns and how the MBTA will address them, came as the MBTA reached its deadline to submit its response to the FTA's August report.

Federal transit inspectors reject more than half the MBTA's proposals to improve safety and efficiency sending the agency back to the drawing board to address shortcomings outlined in the August report.

The end of Steve Poftak's tenure as head of the MBTA coincided with the end of Charlie Baker's second term as governor of Massachusetts. The Baker administration appointed Poftak to lead the MBTA in 2019 after former general manager Luis Ramirez left the post after just 15 months.

An MBTA official reports miscommunication between dispatchers and construction crews led to trains coming dangerously close to workers in four separate incidents on March 13, March 21, March 24, and April 7.

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Eng spent his first morning in the job riding the Blue and Green lines while talking to passengers and MBTA employees. He said he understands the public's frustration about the continued safety incidents and reliability problems and pledged that riders will "start to see meaningful improvements."

"It’ll be slow at the beginning," he said. "But as you start to see them come, I think people will regain that trust."

In a letter to Eng, the FTA warned there is a "substantial risk" of a death or injury on the agency's tracks, citing the close calls in recent weeks and reports of hazardous conditions from the MBTA's state oversight agency, the Department of Public Utilities.

The MBTA faces a Monday deadline to propose critical new workplace safety measures after federal regulators rejected an earlier plan as insufficient because it would take too long to implement. The MBTA has two months to adopt more rigorous protections for crews working along its tracks.

Jeremiah Manion of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report.

Nick Stoico can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @NickStoico.