An MBTA Green Line car derailed near the Riverside station on the D Line Wednesday morning. Only one passenger was onboard in the accident, and there were no injuries, MBTA spokesperson Joseph Pesaturo said in a statement released to The Heights.
The derailment, which occurred at around 6 a.m. while the train was leaving the Riverside station, was caused by a rookie operator who was hired in March, according to The Boston Globe.
“The preliminary investigation shows the train’s operator did not have the signal system’s authorization to proceed,’’ the T said in the statement. “By not allowing the track switch to be properly aligned, the second car of the train came off the rails.”
The MBTA tweeted at 6:37 a.m. that train service had been suspended on the route between the Riverside and Newton Highlands stations, with shuttle buses connecting the closed sections before regular service restarted at noon.
“I want to apologize to the Green Line customers whose commutes were disrupted this morning,” Steve Poftak, general manager of the MBTA, said in the statement. “We will complete the formal investigation as soon as possible and take corrective action if needed. We can and we must do better.”
This incident marks the 14th derailment of an MBTA train since the beginning of 2018, according to WCVB. Of these instances, the Green Line derailed the most frequently, six times to be exact.
The accident simply adds to a list of public relations headaches for the MBTA. Earlier this summer, another Green Line train derailed near the Kenmore station. A Red Line train also derailed in June, causing major delays and yet-to-be repaired damage.
The incident came just over a month after a fare increase for the T went into effect, raising transit prices an average of 5.8 percent.
It was unclear if the incident was at all connected to the upcoming redevelopment project of the Riverside station.
Featured Image Courtesy of Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia Commons
