Green Line Trains Collide in Newton (Massachusetts)

[Muttocracy]

Source: Boston Globe

Breaking News 6:30 PM
Green Line trains collide in Newton
Two D Line trains have collided in Newton between the Waban and Woodland stations, near Dorset Road. TV reports show two twisted cabs derailed on the track, and one person may be pinned beneath a train. Dozens of emergency responders are on the scene, loading some passengers on stretchers. Shuttle service is operating between Riverside and Reservoir.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/05/mbta_train_cras.html

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Edited for more specific link instead of home page

[mac2]

1. We had a commuter train go off the track in Chicago too.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/?s_kwcid=chicago%20tribune%20.com|941019506

It was the green line. Suspicious eh? Constant chaos.

Is our infrastructure falling apart or those drivers to fault?

[nichomachus]

2. I believe this is the second time in two weeks

[Muttocracy]

3. Last one I heard was the runaway car that ran onto the tracks a few weeks ago

I have family in the Boston area and can actually listen to WBZ radio all the way in NY sometimes. I feel like I've heard several bad train and subway accident the last few months. I know there are tons of car accidents too but it seems strange - wonder if it's another aspect of aging U.S. infrastructure?

[mac2]

5. Or fear mongers?

[Ian David]

7. We're fighting them over there so we can't afford to maintain our infrastructure over here. n/t

[mac2]

16. Good one. Or we sell it to Spain and Argentina.

[flyingfysh]

10. the Green Line is the oldest subway system in the US

but the cars they run now are fairly new. I don't know the state of repair of the signals and tracks.

In 2 or 3 years, there will be a Green Line station a few yards from my house (Hooray!!), so I can be sure that part of the track will be brand-new.

[midnight armadillo]

15. What part?

Is that the Cambridgeside Galleria end that's getting new track?

I commuted for years from Riverside on the D branch. And before that lived on the E branch at NU. Ah, fond green line memories.

[mac2]

22. The Green line in Boston is the oldest?

We have a Green line in Chicago.

[polmaven]

14. Nah,

It's another aspect of deteriorating driver intelligence. ..Oh, and of DWT. (driving while texting)

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. obviously GREEN IS WRONG!

we must cancel all public transportation! Build more Humvees!

I was worried about the chicago accident. Not my line, but still, a 100 yr old system still serves close to a million people in one way or another. the El is great for Chicago.

Imagine if we upgraded it. Extended it. Expanded it. Removed buses, and put in more elevated light rail.

[slackmaster]

9. No, but Newton was right

[BadgerKid]

13. However, the tunneling probability

is technically nonzero. :evilgrin:

No win for the cars this time :(

[Gormy Cuss]

20. Duh. That's why it happened in Newton, Massachusetts.

:P

[mac2]

17. What you want to be European?

[mac2]

18. Green line train accidents in Chicago and Boston both on the same day?

[Ian David]

6. Crap. That looks bad. n/t

[Muttocracy]

8. more detail on WBZ site (probably from their helicopter?)

http://wbztv.com/local/train.collision.newton.2.735082.html

photo at the link, excerpt:

"It's unknown how many people were injured, though at least two people were pulled from the train and put into Medflight choppers to be taken to Boston Medical Center and Massachusetts General in Boston. Several ambulances and fire crews were on scene. At least two choppers were called to the scene.

Uninjured passengers were being taken off the train and into an area away from the wreckage.

Damage to both trains was significant, and it appears that both trains are on the same track. WBZ's Rich Kirkland reported from Skyeye that it also appears it was a head-on collision.

...

Newton resident Max Clary lives in a house near the area where the collision happened. Clary, whose room is above the home's garage, said the impact shook the house, causing items to fall off shelves.

WBZ-TV has crews on scene. Stay with wbztv.com for the latest on this breaking news story. "

[BlueManDude]

11. green line d (fenway stop) is right outside my window.

seems to be running?

[Tesha]

21. They're busing between Newton and Riverside this morning. (NT)

[edbermac]

12. All on the local news, don't seem to be very serious injuries or fatalities

The cars are new, but the track on some lines is pretty old. Every year or 2 they'll be a derailment or a minor collision, though this looks pretty bad. Several years ago I was on the Red Line going over the Charles St bridge to Harvard Sq when some T worker doing maintenance got run over by the train.

[edbermac]

19. Damn, the driver got killed.

I thought maybe the second train came around a curve, but the helicopter shots showed that it was a very long straight track. Mechanical failure or something wrong with the driver.

[mac2]

23. The driver killed how?