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New ceiling debris found on Boston T station floor wasn’t concrete, says MBTA

The fallen piece of ceiling found on the commuter rail platform at Forest Hills Wednesday weighed less than a pound, a T spokesperson said.

March 16, 2023

Ceiling debris found on the MBTA’s Forest Hills commuter rail platform Wednesday morning wasn’t a piece of concrete, according to the T.

Twitter user @ImproveTheT shared a photo from the scene, telling the MBTA in a later reply, “There were multiple chunks of ceiling on the platform this morning.”

Hi @MBTA – more pieces of the ceiling are falling down at the Forest Hills Commuter Rail platform pic.twitter.com/fj22yWQ5Rx
— transitadvocate (@ImproveTheT) March 15, 2023

The crumbled debris was apparently “felt” bridge joint padding that weighed less than one pound, T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said in an email.

“MBTA facilities maintenance personnel on the scene have observed an area where felt is missing and, with the felt missing, water has been observed coming down by the bridge joint,” Pesaturo wrote. “This area has been cordoned off.”

A WBZ video posted on Twitter Thursday morning shows water steadily dripping from the ceiling to a taped-off section of the platform.

People who take the commuter rail at the Forest Hills station in Jamaica Plain are concerned after debris fell from the ceiling yesterday. T officials say the debris weighed less than a pound. Water is now leaking from the ceiling and the area is cordoned off. @wbz pic.twitter.com/0nJMgaRI0t
— Anna Meiler (@AnnaMeiler) March 16, 2023

The ceiling above the Forest Hills commuter rail platform has been problematic before, with a piece of concrete crashing down onto the platform in September, The Boston Globe reported. No one was injured.

An Amtrak maintenance crew also removed loose concrete from the ceiling at the MBTA-owned property in 2013 after another piece of concrete fell, the Jamaica Plain Gazette reported at the time.

Earlier this month, a ceiling panel weighing between 20 to 25 pounds fell at Harvard Station, missing a Suffolk University student by mere inches.

In response, MBTA interim General Manager Jeff Gonneville directed staff to remove panels as necessary and said the T would conduct a systemwide audit of similar ceiling structures.