T to test Red, Orange lines’ crash prevention system
Actions are taken at urging of NTSB
The MBTA, responding to an urgent federal safety recommendation, said yesterday that it would begin testing its crash prevention system on the Red and Orange lines.
The T is one of a handful of transit agencies in the United States that uses an automated system similar to the one that failed in Washington, D.C., possibly causing a fatal collision there in June.
“After only 3 months, this complex investigation is far from complete, so we are not ready to determine the probable cause of the accident,’’ Deborah A.P. Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said in a statement. “However, our findings so far indicate a pressing need to issue these recommendations to immediately address safety glitches we have found that could lead to another tragic accident’’ in Washington or elsewhere.
In Washington, a glitch sent out a false signal that prevented the crash prevention system from detecting a train stopped on the tracks. The collision left nine people dead and 70 injured.
Yesterday, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority contacted the manufacturer of its system and the one in Washington,
“We’ve had no issues with them,’’ Pesaturo said.
Though the Red Line has had the system since the 1960s and the Orange line since the 1980s, the individual signal modules have been replaced in the past 10 years and are more modern than those used in Washington, he said.
Pesaturo said testing will last several weeks, but should not disrupt train service.
The Blue Line’s crash prevention system is less sophisticated than the Orange and Red line systems and is not subject to the federal warning because it relies on different technology.
The Green Line does not have an automated system in place, relying instead on manual dispatching. That system was criticized by the NTSB because of two rear-end crashes, one fatal, since May 2008. The NTSB recommended in July that the T upgrade its Green Line system to meet modern standards.
Noah Bierman can be reached at nbierman@globe.com. 
