(The following story by Andrew Ryan and John R. Ellement appeared on the Boston Globe website on May 3.)
BOSTON — An Amtrak flagman working at a construction site died apparently of a heart attack overnight after a train hit a piece of equipment that was on the wrong track, transit officials said.
Cliff Cole, an Amtrak spokesman, said the flagman had a medical condition and was rushed to the hospital after the train hit a forklift-like piece of equipment as it approached South Station.
Authorities identified the flagman as Stephen M. Parker, 50, of Raynham. He was pronounced dead at New England Medical Center Hospital at 3 a.m. Parker’s family declined comment this morning.
The construction crew was employed by Jay Cashman Inc. and was working on a bridge on Washington Street, said Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Transit police, who are investigating the incident, have determined that the Cashman crew and the Amtrak employees were authorized to be on three of the tracks in the area, but not on track number 5, which is where the piece of equipment was struck, Pesaturo said.
“The work crew had authorization to be on tracks 2, 3, 7 — but not 5,” Pesaturo said.
A public relations firm working on behalf of Cashman said the work crew had been authorized to be on the track where the equipment was hit. The spokesman from Regan Communications Group did not provide additional details.
Amtrak officials were still trying to determine what happened. En route from Albany, Amtrak train 448 was carrying 23 passengers, none of whom was injured, Cole said. The tracks were closed for two hours while officials investigated. The 23 passengers were transferred to an MBTA train and arrived at South Station at about 5 a.m., Cole said.
The man who suffered the apparent heart attack was one of two Amtrak flagmen at the construction site on the tracks near the intersection of Washington and Herald streets. When it struck the piece of equipment, the train was traveling slightly below the 30 mile-per-hour speed limit, Cole said.
The forklift-like piece of equipment was being used for bridge repair work for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Pesaturo said. MBTA commuter rail service was not impacted by the accident, Pesaturo said.
The workers were installing shielding underneath the Washington Street bridge as preparation for repaving project expected to be completed later this year, said Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the Mass Pike. Cashman was awarded the $6 million contract last spring but work was delayed because of the fatal Big Dig tunnel collapse in July.