Signal worker on leave after fatal rail crash
WILMINGTON, Mass. (AP) — A rail signal worker is on administrative leave as investigators focus on human error in last week’s fatal crash involving a train and a car in the Boston suburb of Wilmington.
Keolis Commuter Services — the company that runs commuter rail service for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority — wouldn’t say whether the worker was on paid or unpaid leave, The Boston Globe reported Monday.
MBTA officials said the worker likely failed to return the crossing’s safety system to operating mode after regularly scheduled maintenance, meaning the crossing gates and flashing lights that keep cars off the tracks didn’t start in time.
Roberta Sausville, 68, was killed Friday when her vehicle was struck by a MBTA commuter train, authorities said.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told the newspaper Monday that investigators had done several reenactments at the scene of the crash. He said they found no problems or defects in the system, such as rust buildup, that would’ve prevented the system from detecting the approaching train.
The MBTA and the Middlesex District Attorney’s office are investigating the crash. The district attorney’s office declined to comment.