(The Associated Press circulated the following article on January 10.)
WOBURN, Mass. — Transportation officials are investigating why an inbound commuter train was not switched to an alternate track before it slammed into a track maintenance crew on Tuesday, killing two workers and seriously injuring two others.
The afternoon train was headed from Lowell to Boston with 43 passengers about 2 p.m. when it struck a piece of track repair equipment head-on near the Anderson station in Woburn.
One worker was on the equipment and five others were nearby, said Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
The workers killed were identified as Christopher Macaulay, 30 of Brentwood, N.H., and James Zipps, 54, of Lowell, according to their employer, the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., a transportation consortium hired by the MBTA in 2003 to manage and operate the commuter rail system. John Hickey, 50, and Edwin Olson, 55, both of Lowell, were hospitalized with serious injuries, the company said.
Two other workers and about 10 passengers were treated for minor injuries, officials said.
Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for the MBCR, said the workers were using a piece of equipment called a “speed swing,” which uses a hook to lift heavy rail ties. He said the crew had been replacing ties since about 9:45 a.m. as part of scheduled maintenance work. He said other trains had passed through the area earlier in the day but had been switched to parallel tracks.
He said the dispatcher responsible for setting the switch and monitoring the track has been placed on administrative leave.
MBTA Transit Police and the National Transportation Safety Board are focusing on the mechanics of a switch and the actions of a dispatcher, transportation officials said.
A flagman working with the crew waved at the train, but the engineer was unable to stop, authorities said.
“A train cannot stop on a dime; there’s a certain amount of space a train needs,” MBTA Transit Police Lt. Sal Veturelli told The Boston Globe. He said the train’s driver and crew were being tested for drugs and alcohol and questioned about the accident.
MBCR General Manager James F. OLeary announced a five-day moratorium on all nonessential track work Tuesday night.
“MBCR is stunned and deeply saddened by today’s horrific tragedy. Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of these workers,” MBCR General Counsel Richard A. Davey Jr. said.
Two other MBCR workers have been killed since it took over the rail service from Amtrak in 2003, one struck by a freight train as he cleared snow near a platform in Wellesley in 2003, and one crushed by track maintenance equipment last June in Gloucester.