Green Line trolley derailed in Somerville because driver was going too fast, ignored stop signal, feds say

More like a lead hand. All Green Line equipment uses a combo hand throttle and brake for decades now.

Yep you're right, by your logic we should also institute penalties for auto schools and the RMV workers who train and sign off on bad drivers.

That’s the problem with Mass cops not enforcing any traffic laws, bus and train drivers forget they can actually get in trouble for running red lights and speeding (or running over pedestrians) if they do it at work.

In 2008, a speeding Green Line operator ran into another train after experiencing a "micro sleep" (not, as reported, on their phone). The operator was killed and there were many injuries. A year later, there was another crash on the Green Line due to texting while operating. Based on this, the T and regulators decided to implement a train protection system (GLTPS).

There was an RFP in 2016. The project started in 2020. It's nowhere near being implemented.

It's hard to point fingers at any specific culprit for these. These projects are quite hard to implement since these systems are generally supposed to be fail-safe (most railroad systems are) and building a 100% fail-safe system is not easy. (For example, nothing about driving is anywhere near fail-safe.) The Green Line is, at least in the US, quite unique, with many different operating environments. Much of the line is unsignaled and just uses traffic signals, there are a bunch of random stop signs, other portions have wayside signals (the subway, the Highland Branch, and the GLX). But there is nothing fail-safe; the entire system relies on the operators obeying every signal and operating rule. Run a double-red* and nothing happens. Until something bad happens.

That said, the fact that the T has had 16 years to figure this out and is nowhere near figuring it out after nearly two decades and hundreds of millions of dollars. Without fully remembering what I've heard, the contractor has sort of given up, and there hasn't been a monthly update in more than a year, the last update was in August 2023 when the project was 41% complete. Maybe they're doing better and just stopped posting any updates. But the program really seems to have ground to a halt. And there is some scuttlebutt that instead of trying to build a safety system (basically something to interface with signals and not hit objects in front of the train), the T decided to try to built something which could replace drivers, and it didn't work. Basically the Bakerites (Poftak et al) said the project was ahead of schedule, then the adults started running the show and it turns out they were lying.

So now we have nothing, even though a GPS lookup which could sense speeding in slow zones would have prevented this crash, and basically the second car driver did just that, pushing the mushroom (the emergency stop) and braking the train. It might be good the train didn't make it through the switch at 40 mph and try to round a 20˚ curve at speed on a single-track viaduct. Anyway, Phil might have to declare the project dead, write it off, and try something new. But who knows.

One other thing: the T has a culture of safety theater on the Green Line. The line is riddled with 10 mph speed zones where they don't really matter: every street crossing (where they're probably detrimental: trains slow down at intersections but don't stop, cars think slowing down means stopping and turn in front, but the train doesn't stop, violating the first axiom of traffic: "be predictable."), adjacent to platforms, random slow zones and stop signs, anywhere street-running (even though nowhere else in the world has a 10 mph street running speed limit, including the T in the 1980s at least), etc. So then where it matters (interlockings, crossings, etc) drivers have been boy-who-cried-wolf into thinking that 10 mph speed limits don't matter and in this case they do.

Basically the entire operating procedure of the Green Line should be scrapped and redone from the ground up. Not necessarily track and signals. But all of the rules which have been layered on over the decades. And, yes, someone should figure out how to build a train protection system which doesn't take 20 years to implement.

* Red != Double Red. On the Green line, a green signal means the following block clear and the block beyond is no worse than a yellow. A yellow signal means to operate at an approach speed and expect the next signal to be red (you can often see this progression on the Boylston Street portion of the subway). A red signal means that the following block is or may be occupied, or that there is some obstruction, but you can pass a red signal after waiting for 60 seconds and then operating at a restricted speed (10 or 15 mph—I can't remember which—or able to stop within half of line of sight). I've been on a number of trains where we stop, I look at my watch, and 60 seconds later we start going again at a low rate of speed, and a couple minutes later pass a green signal and come back to speed. A double-red is a stop-and-stay signal, generally at an interlocking, which is that the switch is not aligned for your route and you'll derail or cause a collision if you pass. But there's no penalty for passing a double red unless you get caught (major violation, leads to discipline up to and including termination) or do what this operator did.

A train control system for the Green line is in the works but since the entire system was originally designed for streetcar operation and line-of-sight manual operation, a combination of trackside control systems at signals (and elsewhere for control) and receiving equipment integrated with the cab controls of each train operator panel (2 per trolley, one on each end) is needed. That will of course need money. I believe the design for Type 10 cars now under design will be equipped with something. Depending on the cut-in date that will also mean rotating the existing fleet out for rebuild, which they do not want to do because the Type 10 units will be a purchase that will replace the current fleet in its entirety, retiring the Type 7 and 8 units. Type 9 would have a retro fit and about 6-8 of those are also planned to be shifted to Mattapan-Ashmont when the PCC units are retired.

The project is underway.

https://www.mbta.com/projects/green-line-train-protection-system