The cause of Tuesday's Green Line derailment remains under investigation, and riders are expected to continue to experience its impacts during the morning commute.
The derailed train remains derailed on the elevated track, and the National Transportation Safety Board is now running the investigation.
Before the NTSB stepped in, the MBTA said they ruled out track structure as a cause for this derailment – believing it was caused by human error of the train operator.
This all happened during the Tuesday afternoon rush – at about 5 p.m. – as the train was going over the red bridge near the switch, where the Union Square and Medford/Tufts branches of the Green Line intersect.
“While the train was traversing over that switch, the lead truck and the center truck of the leading Green Line trolley derailed," MBTA Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan said Tuesday. "This resulted in some minor injuries to folks on board. Seven passengers were transported to the hospital with minor injuries; 50 people total were on board the train. The folks that were not transported were evacuated onto the right of way and were able to safely exit the train through an emergency exit.”
It’s unclear how long the derailed train will need to remain up there on the tracks for the NTSB to do its investigation.
The T has vowed to support that investigation in any way it can.
Meanwhile, riders will be back on shuttle buses on Wednesday morning. The MBTA's latest update said buses are still replacing service between North Station to Union Square and Medford/Tufts.
This will no doubt cause some headaches, especially during the morning commute. Many passengers on Tuesday night said they found the shuttles extremely confusing, or it took too long for the right one to arrive.
"I had no idea it was derailed," rider Nicole Lester said. "I had to look it up on my phone, and yeah, tried to find the bus stop, was with some other girls, we also couldn't figure out where it was, so I ended up just having to call an Uber."
"If we are kept in the dark, the operators are kept in the dark, then how are we going to know what to do?" asked rider Samit Chowdhury. "Especially when both groups are giving different instructions."
If you use the Green Line between North Station to Union Square and Medford/Tufts and don't want to hop on a shuttle, an alternate service would be the Route 87 bus.
