MBTA Introduces New Measures For Wilmington Commuter Rail Safety

WILMINGTON, MA — The MBTA and its commuter rail operator Keolis have put in place new safety measures for the Middlesex Avenue train crossing in Wilmington, the agency said Tuesday, one month after a Wilmington resident was killed in a train-on-car crash.

"The MBTA and its Commuter Rail operator Keolis will exceed standard operating procedures and take additional steps to enhance the protocols for testing the train crossing's protection system on Middlesex Avenue in Wilmington," the agency said in a news release. "With multiple tests confirming that all elements of the crossing's infrastructure have continued to perform as designed, the MBTA and Keolis are focused on the human element of federally mandated railroad crossing testing."

Officials confirmed in January that they were investigating "human error" in the crash that killed Roberta Sausville Devine, 68 of Wilmington.

Shortly before the crash, MBTA General Manager Stephen Poftak said, an employee of Keolis Commuter Services, the MBTA's commuter rail operator, was performing maintenance and testing of the crossing's safety system.

"Following the testing, our preliminary finding is that the safety system was not returned to its normal operating mode," Poftak said. "This failure resulted in the crossing gates not coming down in a timely manner as the train approached Middlesex Avenue."

The employee was soon placed on leave, and the measures introduced Tuesday are aimed at preventing the same accident from happening again.

The measures come after weeks of calls from town officials for more action from the agency.

"I’d like to assure the community that the protection system at the Middlesex Avenue railroad crossing is safe and fully operational," Poftak said. "On top of our regular maintenance, inspection, and testing procedures, additional rules and instructions for Commuter Rail personnel have been introduced to provide another layer of safety-related enhancements."

All Keolis signal maintainers have been retrained in regular testing procedures, and the following new measures have been introduced:

• "After the testing is completed, the Commuter Rail dispatchers must request, and receive, affirmation from the signal maintainer that the protection system is enabled.
• Following the step mentioned previously, the signal maintainer must remain on-site until the next train passes to ensure the crossing’s protection system is fully operational and, if necessary, be prepared to manually control the protection system if the system does not perform as expected.
• New signage will be installed on the inside of each signal bungalow door to serve as a visual reminder to Keolis personnel to ensure that the crossing equipment has been fully and properly returned to service."

“Safety for our people, our passengers and the communities that depend on commuter rail service is our first priority at Keolis,” Keolis Boston CEO Abdellah Chajai said. “We will continue to work with the MBTA and our crews to ensure safe operations at this location and across the network.”

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.