The cause of Tuesday's Green Line derailment remains under investigation, and riders are expected to continue to experience its impacts.
The derailed train remains derailed on the elevated track, and the National Transportation Safety Board is now running the investigation.
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Just before 11 a.m. Wednesday, MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng issued a statement apologizing for the derailment.
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“We apologize for this unfortunate incident, to the riders who were aboard this Green Line trolley yesterday, and to riders who continue to be disrupted by the shut down,” Eng said. “Safety continues to be our top priority and this incident is unacceptable. We’re working alongside our federal and state partners to understand what happened to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We know this unplanned service change is a challenge, and we thank our riders for their patience at this time.”
He said it is unclear when regular service will resume, saying repairs will be made once investigators have returned the area to the T.
Before the NTSB stepped in, the MBTA said they ruled out track structure as a cause for this derailment – believing it was caused by human error of the train operator.
This all happened during the Tuesday afternoon rush – at about 5 p.m. – as the train was going over the red bridge near the switch, where the Union Square and Medford/Tufts branches of the Green Line intersect.
“While the train was traversing over that switch, the lead truck and the center truck of the leading Green Line trolley derailed," MBTA Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan said Tuesday. "This resulted in some minor injuries to folks on board. Seven passengers were transported to the hospital with minor injuries; 50 people total were on board the train. The folks that were not transported were evacuated onto the right of way and were able to safely exit the train through an emergency exit.”
It’s unclear how long the derailed train will need to remain up there on the tracks for the NTSB to do its investigation.
The T has vowed to support that investigation in any way it can.
Meanwhile, riders were back on shuttle buses on Wednesday. The MBTA said the free buses are still replacing service between North Station to Union Square and between North Station and Medford/Tufts.
This will no doubt cause some headaches, especially during the morning and afternoon commutes. Many passengers on Tuesday night said they found the shuttles extremely confusing, or it took too long for the right one to arrive.
"I had no idea it was derailed," rider Nicole Lester said. "I had to look it up on my phone, and yeah, tried to find the bus stop, was with some other girls, we also couldn't figure out where it was, so I ended up just having to call an Uber."
"If we are kept in the dark, the operators are kept in the dark, then how are we going to know what to do?" asked rider Samit Chowdhury. "Especially when both groups are giving different instructions."
If you use the Green Line between North Station to Union Square and Medford/Tufts and don't want to hop on a shuttle, an alternate service would be the Route 87 bus.
