Surveillance video shows the moment a ceiling panel came crashing down on the southbound platform at Harvard Station — shortly before 7:30 Thursday morning. Two people waiting for a train just feet away were uninjured, but it’s the third time something like this has happened in two years.
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T riders are reacting after a panel fell from the ceiling of Harvard Station on the MBTA's Red Line on Thursday morning, two years after a pair of similar incidents at the same location.
No one was hurt when a single panel fell from the ceiling at Harvard Station on the southbound platform, according to the MBTA.
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Riders said it's hard to believe something like this has happened, again.
“You know, I don't really feel safe when panels are falling from the ceiling at our T stations," commented rider Ezra Lee.
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“I usually look up now when I’m waiting for the train and if you ever stand on the platform and look up like you can just see a bunch of things that could possibly fall down because it just doesn’t look safe," said Jaz Nettrour, a regular rider.
Surveillance footage released Thursday by the MBTA shows the panel dropping near two people on the platform.
MBTA engineering and station facilities management personnel are investigating, and the station remains open except for the immediate area where the panel fell. The panel is made of a light tin material and showed signs of corrosion, though what caused it to fall remains under investigation.
One rider told NBC10 Boston the government should be doing more to keep the system up to date.
“Unfortunately, politicians for years have kicked the can down the road, and they haven’t kept up the system the way it should be, to keep it safe and inviting for people to use it," said Bill Cunningham, a rider. "The system is over 100 years old, it’s bound to have things that go wrong, we just have to spend more money to make sure it’s kept up running safe and comfortable for travelers to use.”
The T said the area was inspected last summer as part of a routine inspection.
A similar incident occurred in March of 2023, when a 25-pound ceiling panel fell on the same platform, narrowly missing a T rider as they approached a staircase. That near miss was blamed on corrosion from water and prompted the removal of 100 other ceiling panels.
Footage released by the MBTA at the time showed the falling panel dropping directly in front of a passenger, who spoke to NBC10 Boston about the shocking moment.
"To look back at the footage and see how close it was to potentially falling one me was hard to see," Cianna Navarro said. "At the moment I didn't know what had fallen. I was in such a state of shock. I couldn't really wrap my head around everything until I left the train station and I stopped and went to the sidewalk and just stood there to gather myself."
Just two months later, a woman was injured when a heavy utility box came down at Harvard Station, bringing with it a support brace that struck her. She wound up suing the MBTA, saying her injuries required ongoing and long-term medical treatment.
