T board leans into scrutiny
Members say they welcome probe by feds of recent incidents
Members of the MBTA’s Safety, Health & Environment Subcommittee said they were pleased to have federal investigators looking into a spate of recent safety concerns — some of them fatal — within the transit agency’s system.
“Safety is our No. 1 priority and we will fully support the (Safety Management Inspection) review and cooperate with the (Federal Transit Authority),” said MBTA Chief Safety Officer Ron Ester said at the subcommittee’s Monday meeting.
Board Member Scott Darling concurred, saying that an inspection was welcome, and that any potential improvement to safety offered is worth considering.
Board Member Mary Beth Mello said she, too, was interested in the FTA’s review, “keenly” so, she said.
The subcommittee’s embrace of the investigation comes after the somewhat unscripted announcement that the feds were in town.
Last week it surfaced in media reports investigators from the FTA would descend on the city and begin looking into the transit authority’s safety practices.
In an April 14 letter to General Manager Steve Poftak, the FTA said it was “extremely concerned with the ongoing safety issues” at the agency.
The FTA’s letter came following a series of recent MBTA derailments, crashes and ground level crossing fatalities.
And investigators specifically referenced a deadly April 10 incident in which passenger Robinson Lalin, 39, was killed after being dragged into the Broadway station tunnel by a Red line train he was exiting.
The door mechanism meant to detect obstruction apparently failed, according to preliminary reports, trapping Lalin’s arm.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation into that incident is still ongoing with a final report not yet published.
“The maintenance group has changed their inspection cycle and the way inspections are being done,” Ester said of the door mechanisms.
The subcommittee asked Ester to provide an update if any further trains were found with a similar defect.
Ester told the subcommittee the FTA met with MBTA officials last week, that they will conduct their investigation over the next several weeks, and that a report should be expected before the end of summer.
News of the investigation only came to light after news reports of the arrival of investigators.
The MBTA last held their monthly board meeting on April 28. The letter informing Poftak of the investigation is dated April 14.
The board, while acknowledging his death and offering their condolences to Lalin’s family, did not reference receipt of the FTA’s letter at that meeting.
A spokesperson for the MBTA told the Herald Monday that the question of when to disclose the investigation was the up to the FTA.
“While the timing of when to disclose their inspection is entirely up to the FTA, the MBTA is focusing its efforts on doing what is necessary to make public transportation as safe as possible,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.