Local News

Man dies after contacting third rail at Park Street MBTA station

The man “appeared unsteady” beforehand, a spokesperson said.

Passengers board a green line train at the Park Street Station. A man died there Saturday after contacting the third rail. Craig F. Walker/Boston Globe Staff

By Ross Cristantiello

May 15, 2022

A man died at the Park Street MBTA station Saturday night, according to officials. The person, who has not been publicly identified, came into contact with the third rail, according to MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo.

The incident occurred around 10:10 p.m. A preliminary investigation found that the man “appeared unsteady” on his feet while on the southbound platform, Pesaturo said. He then fell off the platform and contacted the third rail.

Foul play is not suspected, Pesaturo said. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and Transit Police are investigating further.

This is not the only deadly MBTA incident in recent months. In April, Robinson Lalin was killed when his arm became stuck in a Red Line train door. Officials said he was getting off the train, but was caught and fatally dragged by the train. Similar incidents occurred in the 1990s, The Boston Globe reported. Few details have been released about Lalin’s death.

On May 9, a woman was struck and killed by a commuter rail train in Salem. The woman was “trespassing on the right of way,” Transit Police Superintendent Richard Sullivan, a department spokesman, told the Globe.

Last September, Boston University professor David K. Jones fell to his death through a derelict staircase at the JFK/UMass MBTA station. Interim District Attorney Kevin Hayden reported that Jones, while on a run, tried to ascend a flight of rusty, unrepaired stairs that had been blocked off and unattended for over a year. Both employees and commuters had filed several service requests regarding the stairs to the MBTA, according to records obtained by the Globe.