T scraps Green Line crash-prevention contract recommended by NTSB in 2009 - The Boston Globe (2024)

The technology essentially eliminates the possibility of driver error, automatically intervening and applying brakes to prevent trains from speeding or getting too close to each other. The Green Line is the only part of the T’s transit system without the extra protection.

The technology not only prevents crashes, but also allows for shorter wait times between trains, Eng said. Since the trains can communicate with each other, they are able to travel much closer together without the risk of collision.

Eng paused the Stadler contract earlier this year. He believes the project under a new company will remain within the current $212 million budget, which includes about $59 million spent already to install equipment, pay T staff associated with the project, and pay Stadler.

“I can’t speak to all decisions made by prior leadership in the prior administration,” Eng said. “But our goal is to really dig deep into not only this project but all of the projects and demonstrate that we can deliver and do things better.”

A spokesperson for Stadler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The National Transportation Safety Board first recommended the MBTA install anti-collision technology on the Green Line in 2009, following two major crashes. In 2008, train operator Ter’rese Edmonds, 24, went through a stop signal at about 38 miles per hour and crashed into another trolley in Newton, killing her. The following year, a train rear-ended another train near Government Center, injuring 49 people and causing nearly $10 million in damage.

Following the 2009 NTSB recommendation, the T took 10 years to research different tech options, seek approval for a less expensive version than what the NTSB originally recommended, and award a contract.

Green Line trains kept crashing.

In a July 2021 crash, the striking train accelerated at “full power” when the operator “reported a loss of situational awareness” and did not apply the brakes before the crash, the NTSB’s final report about that collision said. Twenty-four riders and three MBTA crew members were transported to the hospital with minor injuries. The maximum speed limit on the Green Line ranges between 10 and 25 miles per hour, the report said. However, it noted: “In this accident, the striking trolley was over-speeding by about 23 mph.”

The NTSB said the crash “would have been prevented” if the MBTA had installed the long-discussed system on the Green Line.

To speed up the process of installing the technology, in 2022, the T announced it was transferring around $45 million from its operating budget, for day-to-day needs, to the Green Line collision prevention tech project to be able to complete it in 2023.

That investment didn’t pay off.

Later that year, another Green Line crash and derailment sent three operators to the hospital. And the T later said Stadler had delayed the project’s completion to 2025 after it acquired BBR.

When Eng became general manager in April 2023, he said he began to review the T’s outstanding contracts that were delayed.

During a walk-though at the Green Line maintenance facility late last year, Eng said the project was essentially at a standstill, and it became clear to him that the T would need to take a different approach.

“What I wasn’t going to do is have another year go by with no progress and continue to spend money,” he said.

Eng paused all of the contracts related to the project and invited two other vendors to demonstrate their technology on Green Line trains. Both companies proved they could install the systems in days and both worked, Eng said.

He ultimately decided to end the T’s contract with Stadler and issue a new request for proposals.

“By taking things that are available off the shelf and being used by others right now, we believe that we’ll be able to do this much quicker and more cost effectively,” he said.

MBTA observers praised Eng’s leadership and said they support his efforts to get long-promised projects back on track.

Jarred Johnson, executive director of the public transportation advocacy group TransitMatters, called the delay “disappointing” but said Eng’s approach is the right one.

“This is the kind of thing that needs happen at the T: going through prior assumptions and chipping away at contractors taking advantage of the T,” Johnson said.

Brian Kane, executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, said the move “shows Eng’s professionalism and abilities and why he is the real deal.”

“Phil has seen it all, he saw this was a dud, and he canceled it,” Kane said.

Companies have until Aug. 27 to respond to the T’s request.

Taylor Dolven can be reached at taylor.dolven@globe.com. Follow her @taydolven.