http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/12/10/mbta-red-line-train-left-station-without-operator/
The headlines are a bit misleading, of course, and the incident is being investigated by The FTA, "T" police, MDOT, and possibly the NTSB. The suspicion goes back to operator error and not tampering which was the initial thought and cause for the dramatic headlines that the news media lapped up like a thirsty dog. The other causes of course are not being ruled out and are under investigation, however.
The MBTA Red Line, which runs from Braintree up to West Cambridge, had a runaway train today. The operator needed to use the bypass mode due to a signal error and the train took off unattended with 50 people onboard. No one was injured, except for the driver who was hit by the train as it sped away suddenly and was treated and released at the local hospital. The train was stopped when the control center cut the power to the tracks after the passenger got a 5-station express ride on the train as it sped up to just outside of JFK Center station.
The bypass operation the operator uses is similar to what I saw in a video on the UK Class 455 EMUs. The operator puts the control into parking mode, pulls the handbrake, then exits the train to flip a switch to bypass the control system.
Such excitement we had up here today in sleepy forgotten New England!
John
The headlines are a bit misleading, of course, and the incident is being investigated by The FTA, "T" police, MDOT, and possibly the NTSB. The suspicion goes back to operator error and not tampering which was the initial thought and cause for the dramatic headlines that the news media lapped up like a thirsty dog. The other causes of course are not being ruled out and are under investigation, however.
The MBTA Red Line, which runs from Braintree up to West Cambridge, had a runaway train today. The operator needed to use the bypass mode due to a signal error and the train took off unattended with 50 people onboard. No one was injured, except for the driver who was hit by the train as it sped away suddenly and was treated and released at the local hospital. The train was stopped when the control center cut the power to the tracks after the passenger got a 5-station express ride on the train as it sped up to just outside of JFK Center station.
The bypass operation the operator uses is similar to what I saw in a video on the UK Class 455 EMUs. The operator puts the control into parking mode, pulls the handbrake, then exits the train to flip a switch to bypass the control system.
Such excitement we had up here today in sleepy forgotten New England!
John