NTSB: Boston trolley in 2008 crash going too fast

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said in documents released Monday that Terrese Edmonds should not have been traveling more than 10 mph after pulling out of a station in suburban Newton and encountering the red signal. Instead, they say, her trolley was moving 38 mph when it slammed into the back of another trolley paused at a faulty signal just ahead.

Seven people were injured in the May 28, 2008, crash.

The NTSB planned to release its conclusions about the cause of the crash during a public hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

In one of the series of fact-finding reports released beforehand, the driver of the train that was struck complained that after leaving the Green Line's Waban Station he was forced to stop at a red signal for apparently no reason. He was just starting to pull away from the signal when Edmonds' train crashed into the rear of his train.

"(The conductor) stated in an interview that he had wondered why his train was stopped at Signal H-66 when he could see that the track ahead was clear," the report said. "He questioned if this signal was defective."

The conductor told investigators that earlier that day he had been required to stop at the signal even though the track ahead was clear and "at that time he had reported the red signal to the Operations Control Center and was told that it had been previously reported."

Investigators found broken electrical connections between track sections, cutting the signal that would have made the H-66 light go on and off correctly.

Although authorized speed for the area of track where the accident occurred is 40 mph, Edmonds' train should have been operating on "restricted speed" because the first signal outside Waban Station, H-64, was red, the NTSB report said.

Conductors operating on restricted speed should not exceed 10 mph and "must watch for a broken rail or a switch not properly lined and must stop their car or train short of a car, train or other obstruction" when they receive such a red light, the NTSB said.

Edmonds was traveling 28 mph over that limit.

A second operator riding in the rear of Edmonds' two-car trolley said he noticed nothing unusual about her "demeanor, behavior, appearance or attitude" on the day of the accident. He said they had conducted a test of the brakes earlier that day, but the NTSB report was silent on whether any problems were found.

A subsequent NTSB inspection of the trolley found the brake pads "to be slightly worn but with service life remaining."

The operator also said that he felt nothing unusual in Edmonds' handling of the train and that it accelerated away from Waban Station smoothly with "no brake applications being felt up until the time of the impact."

He told investigators he couldn't see the signal at the Waban Station from his position in the trolley. In subsequent tests, investigators sitting in Edmonds' position at the front of a trolley said they had a clear view of it.

A toxicological analysis of Edmonds' body found no illicit drugs or alcohol but found the over-the-counter sleep aid doxylamine in her urine, another NTSB report said without elaboration. Doxylamine is in the same class of medications as antihistamines and can be used in combination with decongestants to relieve sneezing and runny noses.

Edmonds was hired as a part-time street car operator in August 2007. She had received two written warnings, once for excessive absenteeism and a second for driving on the wrong tracks.

An investigation conducted last year by Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone concluded Edmonds wasn't talking on her cell phone or sending text messages in the moments before the crash. An accident on the same line this year was blamed on a driver who was text-messaging; dozens of people were hurt.

A telephone call by The Associated Press to the union representing Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority drivers was not immediately returned Monday.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)