Trolley driven through red light

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board joined local authorities over the weekend in analyzing the Green Line train and track conditions at the time of the crash, which sent nearly 50 people to the hospital, and have found no mechanical problems. The operator told T police he was sending his girlfriend a text message while driving the trolley through the crowded and twisting subway corridor.

But the safety board has not been able to meet with the driver, 24-year-old Aiden Quinn of Attleboro, who did not appear for a scheduled meeting yesterday with his supervisor and representatives of the federal agency. Joe Pesaturo, T spokesman, said Quinn called in advance of the meeting to say he was not feeling well and could not attend.

Debbie Hersman, of the safety board, said the crash totaled three of the four trolley cars involved, causing $9.6 million in damage. The board is in Boston investigating the city's second Green Line rear-end collision in a year.

"We are very interested in talking to the operator," Hersman said.

Quinn, who has not responded to calls requesting comment, did not answer the door at his apartment yesterday. A downstairs neighbor in the three-unit building who declined to give her name said Quinn had left early in the morning and was not planning to return yesterday.

Daniel A. Grabauskas, MBTA general manager, has said Quinn will be fired. Pesaturo said Quinn was on a paid suspension, and authorities plan to fire him early this week. He may face charges, Grabauskas has said.

Hersman said investigators have determined that the 18-year-old, two-car trolley Quinn was operating had no mechanical defects and had its last overhaul last month. The tracks were in good condition and the signals were operating, she said.

After leaving Government Center Station, she said, the train passed two green lights and a yellow light before going through a red light. It then proceeded 80 feet past the red signal, traveling at the posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour, before striking a trolley that was stopped because of congestion on the tracks. Two other trains were stopped in front of the train that was struck.

The impact jolted the stationary train 31 feet down the tracks at 10 miles per hour, according to an "event recorder" - which is similar to an airplane's "black box" - on the train that was struck. According to an on-the-tracks reconstruction of the incident yesterday, Quinn should have been able to see the train ahead at a distance of 480 feet.

The safety board also will check the results of a toxicology test, as well as training and personnel records, Hersman said.

Grabauskas said after the collision that the T, which bans cellphone use by operators while driving, would now prohibit drivers from carrying cellphones onto trains and buses. The safety board has been looking for years at the risks of using a cellphone while driving, Hersman said.

"You should not be talking on your cellphone, texting, or operating a wireless device while you are operating a vehicle," she said.

The MBTA reopened the Green Line yesterday at 5 a.m. Some anxious T riders said the incident made them reluctant to get back on the trains, but others said they appreciated the driver's honesty and the T's response.

"What happened is very scary because I ride the T with my daughter to and from work and school," said Shani Wilkerson, 34, of Dorchester, who was walking with her family through Boston Common yesterday. "Before I was worrying about drunk drivers, and now it's texting T drivers? Maybe I'll take the bus more or try and ride the T less, at least when I'm with my daughter."

Robert McIntyre, 47, of Somerville has been a Park Street food vendor for 12 years and has always taken the T to work. "I rely on the T and usually I'm very happy with it," he said. "What happened was horrible and irresponsible, but I give the guy credit for coming forward. He realized he did wrong."

Mary Hopkins, a 27-year-old Jamaica Plain resident who was exiting Government Center T Station yesterday, said the incident did not make her feel the T was less safe.

"It seems like the MBTA is taking it very seriously, so that is good," she said. "Now, if anything, being on the T is safer with the drivers being under such scrutiny."

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com. Globe correspondent Matthew P. Collette contributed to this report.