BOSTON — The head of the Boston-area transit system promised an independent review of recent subway derailments after one during Tuesday’s morning rush caused widespread disruption for commuters.
Steve Poftak, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, said investigators were trying to determine why the third car of a Red Line train went off the tracks at an above-ground stop near the Boston campus of the University of Massachusetts and the John F. Kennedy presidential library.
About 60 passengers were evacuated from the derailed car, authorities said. One person was treated at the scene for a hand injury and a second person, who initially left the scene, returned later complaining of neck problems and asked to be taken to a hospital, according to Poftak.
The incident came days after a crowded Green Line trolley derailed below ground near Kenmore Square. That incident has been preliminarily blamed on that train’s operator, who has since been suspended.
But Poftak said he wanted a “fresh set of eyes” to examine the incidents.
There have been four derailments so far this year, Poftak said.