MBTA under pressure for leaving Green Line passengers alone after derailment: ‘Failed passengers’

The MBTA is under fire for leaving riders alone after a trolley derailed earlier this month on the Green Line, an incident that residents, elected officials and even the beleaguered agency called “unacceptable.”

Somerville resident Maggie Norcross-Devin is pushing the agency to revamp how operators respond to derailments and other incidents in the immediate aftermath. She was one of around 50 pilots who suffered the “serious accident” on October 1st.

Norcross-Devin relived the “shocking” incident Thursday night in front of the Somerville City Council, which criticizes the MBTA for a lack of transparency and effective communication.

Passengers were evacuated from the train’s right-of-way and exited through an emergency exit before climbing onto a bridge near Lechmere station. Pilots took photos of the scene, but “it was very quiet,” Norcross-Devin said.

“One thing that impressed me was that the train operators stayed with the train,” she said. “They got off the train but never came to check on the passengers.”

After about 10 minutes, operators came from the Union Square side and directed passengers to the exits.

“As I was crossing the tracks,” Norcross-Devin said, “one of the operators said to me ‘I’m sorry for the inconvenience.’ I thought ‘This isn’t an inconvenience. This was a serious accident.’”

Seven passengers were transported to local hospitals with what were described as “minor injuries,” MBTA Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan confirmed later that evening. Preliminary findings have ruled out problems with the track’s structure, with the investigation focusing on “human factors”, he said.

The derailment occurred on what is known as the “red bridge,” which connects where the Medford/Tufts branch and the Union branch of the Green Line cross. Shuttle buses replaced service between North Station and Medford/Tufts, with full operations returning two days later.

An operator told passengers to walk along an access road to Lechmere, where they would wait for buses, Norcross-Devin said. Another operator told her they didn’t want her contact information, she added.

In the following days, the MBTA’s legal team sent Norcross-Devin a compensation form requesting her salary and other information after she contacted the agency to ask about its safety policies.

She would only get this information if she sent a letter to general manager Philip Eng.

“In my opinion, the MBTA has failed riders,” she said. “I understand that accidents happen, we cannot prevent them, but we can have policies and procedures in place to ensure the safety of passengers immediately after the accident. And that was what was missing.”

The MBTA continues to apologize for the derailment.

“We apologize to all passengers on this cart and to those who were injured by the experience last week,” an agency spokesperson told the Herald in a statement Friday evening. “We are fully committed to continually improving, including during incidents like these.”

The spokesperson added that COO Coholan called the pilot who testified and personally apologized. He also expressed his and MBTA General Manager Philip Eng’s commitment to investigating problems and “identifying areas for improvement.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident and said last week it would release a preliminary report within 30 days.

Somerville City Council President Ben Ewen-Campen said he has been in contact with an MBTA outreach team, requesting information about what should happen in such incidents.

“There has been no response,” he told his colleagues, “or should I say there has been a response that they are working on it…they are trying to find out where it says exactly what that policy is.”

“I don’t know what to think of this,” he added. “I can’t believe there hasn’t been a policy that can be shared with the public.”

Councilman Willie Burnley Jr. recounted the excitement he shared with other councilors when the Union Square stop and Medford/Tufts branch opened in 2022.

The last two years, however, have not been smooth sailing, as a series of closures have disrupted service more than anyone imagined.

“In many ways we are constrained by the State,” Burnley said, “and we know that they supersede us and we have no jurisdiction over them. But there has to be a threshold of accountability when we say, ‘If you are harming our residents, we are going to demand transparency and action from you.”