FTA to MBTA: Act now to protect right-of-way workers

The Federal Transit Administration last week ordered the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to take immediate action to protect the safety of workers on the right-of-way (ROW).

While the MBTA continues to make progress in many areas raised by the FTA in its safety management inspection last year, concerns regarding ROW workers remain, FTA officials said in a Sept. 14 letter to MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng.

In April, in response to five incidents where trains nearly collided with transit workers on the ROW, the FTA called on the MBTA to act immediately to protect workers. Specifically, FTA prohibited MBTA from allowing ROW access unless MBTA took specific identified actions, such as enhanced monitoring of implementation of track access procedures, and the development of a ROW rules compliance and safety work plan.

"Despite taking these actions, over the last month MBTA has experienced four additional near miss events, including two incidents on the Red Line and two on the Green Line," the FTA wrote in its most recent letter. Moreover, the MBTA failed to report the near misses as required by the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, the agency stated.

"FTA deems it necessary to outline additional actions that MBTA must undertake immediately to ensure the safety of transit workers working on the ROW," the letter states. "Failure to comply with these requirements may result in suspension of all activities that place workers on the ROW, including maintenance and inspection, until FTA is confident that the MBTA can ensure workers are adequately protected from collisions on the ROW."

Specifically, the FTA is requiring that MBTA report all near misses to the FTA within two hours of an incident; explain reporting delays in the near misses that occurred since Aug. 1; and conduct an analysis of each near miss that occurred since Aug. 1.

To read the entire FTA letter, click here.