Construction Equipment Derails on Red Line, Damaging Third Rail

A piece of construction equipment derailed on the Red Line near Quincy Center early Tuesday morning, the MBTA said.

The incident occurred around 1:20 a.m. There were no injuries, the MBTA said, but the derailment damaged the third rail.

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The equipment was re-railed around 3:45 a.m. and repairs to the third rail were completed by 5 a.m.

The MBTA said 25 shuttle buses provided alternative service while power was restored. Service was fully restored to the Red Line at 6:20 a.m.

The work being conducted is part of safety upgrades being conducted along the Red Line through Thursday of this week, and again from Aug. 8 to Aug. 11.

The track work comes as safety issues continue to plague the MBTA and calls for change grow. The Federal Transit Administration is now stepping in, ordering MBTA workers to attend safety briefings.

This follows a slew of issues and three runaway train incidents since the end of May. The FTA called the runaway incidents "exceptionally dangerous."

Just Monday night, a train on the MBTA Commuter Rail's Framingham/Worcester Line was forced to stop in Boston's Brighton neighborhood because of an electrical issue that left it with no air conditioning.

Footage from the scene showed people who had left the train through the emergency exits climbing a ladder to get off the railway.

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