Surveillance footage shows a close call between a construction worker and an MBTA train, one of several similar incidents that prompted federal regulators to step in and demand changes to the agency's safety protocols.
Video from March 13, provided to NBC10 Boston in response to a public records request, shows a worker on the tracks climbing out of the right-of-way as the lights from a train can be seen approaching in the tunnel. The train stops before it comes into full view, and before it would have made it to where the worker had been standing, and the worker appears unhurt.
The incident is one of several - on March 13, March 21, March 24, and April 7, where trains came too close to workers due to miscommunications between construction crews and dispatch. They were described as "near-miss events" by MBTA General Manager Philip Eng during a subsequent board of directors meeting. Those, paired with another incident in which a worker was seriously hurt, are what led the Federal Transit Administration to step in last month, banning further work in the right-of-way without more training.
This came as the T has been scrambling to do necessary repair work and maintenance work across multiple lines to improve service and reduce slow zones.
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Eng has taken the helm of the embattled agency and promised more focus on safety both for workers and riders. However, at a recent Board of Directors meeting board members warned of a "sobering several years ahead."
