T suspends subway worker for carrying cellphone

By Globe Staff

The MBTA has handed down its first punishment under a strict new cellphone policy, giving a 10-day suspension to a train attendant on the Orange Line who was wearing a wireless device on his ear, a transit spokesman said today.

The train attendant was getting off an Orange Line train at Wellington Station last Thursday night when his supervisor saw him wearing a Bluetooth wireless device on his ear, according to Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The device was connected to a cellphone in his bag, which the attendant said was turned off.

Train attendants work in the fourth car and do not drive the trains. The name of the attendant was not released.

The new cellphone policy, which took effect May 18, was sparked by a crash on the Green Line that occurred while the trolley operator was writing a text message. Fifty people went to the hospital with injuries when the trolley ran a red light and destroyed three trolley cars, worth a total of $9.6 million.

The new rules, believed to be the toughest in the country for a major transit agency, ban drivers even from keeping electronic devices with them while operating a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority vehicle. First-time offenders will get a 10-day suspension; after a second offense, they are subject to dismissal.