There was a surge in speeding on the Green Line. A system to stop it is years overdue.

Boston Globe

11-05-2025

'It was either like a big [expletive] you ... or, it was just an oversight,' said Norcross-Devin, 48, of Somerville, said of the sticker. 'Either way, it was not great.'
Just a few months later in February, another speeding Green Line train smashed into a stationary trolley at the East Somerville Station,
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In both crashes, the trains were traveling at more than three times the speed limit. It's possible both could have been prevented had the T installed a safety technology
federal regulators recommended as far back as 16 years ago,
following two serious Green Line crashes, including one in 2008 that killed a trolley driver.
Common on
rail systems across the country, automaking breaking technology intervenes and stops the car when a driver fails to yield when approaching another train or a stop signal, essentially eliminating the possibility of human error. But the T is still three years from completing installation on the Green Line.
'The problem is when you've diddled around and not started implementing this until way after it was suggested ... what are you going to do in the interim?' said Keith Millhouse, a railway safety expert. 'You just can't hold your breath and pray that something bad doesn't happen.'
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The Green Line has a speeding problem: Dozens of drivers have been cited in recent years, according to T records, and excess speeds have historically been a factor in crashes. With its high number of surface-level stops slowing service,
drivers have voiced feeling pressured to rush
The speeding problem may be worse than what's documented, as the T's monitoring tools were unreliable, its audits flawed, and enforcement patchy, according to a presentation from an April 8 meeting between federal safety regulators and T officials obtained by the Globe.
'It's glaring that you could have these continual violations and only be capturing a portion of them, and even then, not necessarily accurately capturing them,' said Millhouse, a California-based attorney who consults on transportation and infrastructure issues.
The recommendation from federal safety regulators that the MBTA adopt the braking system came in 2009 after a collision on the Green Line injured 49 people; the year before a train operator died in a similar accident.
But it took a decade for the T to hire a vendor, a German firm named BBR, and that $83 million contract was for a
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But in June 2024 the T, with Eng now at the helm,
'It had not progressed to the point where we felt confident that we could proceed with that contract,' Eng said at a meeting of the T's board of directors in February. 'This is a system that is needed for us to ensure safety, to give our operators the opportunity to be more successful.'
After the crash in Somerville in February, the T board of directors approved a
The T expects the first phase, which includes audible and visual alarms to warn operators, will be in place by the end of this year. But automatic braking technology is not anticipated to be on all new-model trains until June 2028.
Chief operating officer Ryan Coholan said he is 'fully super confident' that 2028 deadline will be met.
Until then, it's up to operators to drive within the speed limits and supervisors to enforce them.
'They should have started this much earlier,' said Millhouse, former board chairman at Southern California's Metrolink commuter rail system. 'Until you get a technology that can enhance the oversight and take control of situations, you are going to have to train those people better and supervise them more heavily.'
One
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Instead, the T relied on problematic enforcement methods. Mounted signs that sent speeding alerts to managers proved too variable and unreliable, according to an agency analysis; GPS speed alerts sometimes reported trains traveling far faster than was possible or were in a completely different location; a speed-trap style approach where supervisors used handheld radar guns was often conducted on well-lit platforms and in areas where operators naturally slow down and are more cautious.
Those shortcomings raise questions about whether the T is missing many more speeding violations.
'It's nearly impossible to do the exact speed'
required along the rails,
said a former Green Line operator of more than a decade, who requested anonymity because he has relatives employed at the T and feared retaliation. 'You have to watch your speed, watch people in the back, watch cars ahead, watch signals, listen to the radio. ... The hardest part is the pressure.'
An assessment of the speed audit program last year found most incidents occurred around Government Center, with the average 2 miles per hour over the limit, according to the presentation agency officials made to federal investigators in April.
Speed limits vary by location, from 5 miles per hour around stations, crossings and curved sections, up to 40 miles per hour on open, straight stretches, T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said.
'Even if you go one or two miles per hour over the maximum authorized speed, that's not permissible,' said Robert Halstead, a New York-based railroad accident reconstruction expert with Ironwood Technologies.
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In a five-year period through mid-February, 133 Green Line drivers were cited for speeding, with roughly half of those in 2024 alone, according to T data.
The agency attributed the recent surge to new operators, improvements to speed audits, and fluctuating speed limits as speed restrictions were imposed and lifted.
The T has also taken steps to improve oversight. New and more accurate GPS devices have been installed; training content is being redesigned; and speed audits focus on high-risk areas.
With the automatic braking technology still years away, such safety measures need to be 'ramped up substantially,' said Millhouse. 'The key here is that you got to keep pushing ahead.'
Meanwhile, Norcross-Devin, the rider from Somerville who was injured in the October derailment, said the sticker now makes her chuckle a little, but she is unlikely to feel comfortable on the Green Line anytime soon.
'Every single time I get on the train, I'm very aware of speed ... I'm on the edge,' said Norcross-Devin. 'It feels like it just keeps happening ... and I don't see significant changes to the overall safety.'
Shannon Larson can be reached at