The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Association announced Feb. 25 it selected a contractor to begin implementing the Green Line Train Protection System, MBTA spokesperson Maya Bingaman wrote in a statement to The Daily Free Press.
This announcement comes in the wake of a Feb. 9 derailment in Somerville, which sent five people — four train operators and one passenger — to the hospital.
“GLTPS represents a strategic and vital enhancement to the existing Green Line infrastructure,” wrote Bingaman. “The MBTA is dedicated to building a transportation system that prioritizes safety, reliability, and fiscal responsibility.”
The new contractor is Piper Networks, Inc., a California-based company, with its contract valued at approximately $113 million dollars.
According to Bingaman, The National Safety Board recommended incorporating the Green Line Train Protection System to the MBTA back in 2008, but that effort has, until now, resulted in “no progress.”
GLTPS aims to prevent trains from passing through stopping signals, enforce speed limits and mitigate train-to-train collisions on tracks used for passenger service.
Bingaman confirmed that Phase 1 of GLTPS installation, which features audible and visual alarms to alert trolley operators of impending collisions or excessive speeds, is in progress.
However, many T riders are unaware of the new safety system being introduced.
Mandar Juveker, a graduate student at BU, said a new safety system for the Green Line is “definitely a worthwhile thing,” as he frequently rides the T.
“It’s not the most reliable, but it works,” he said. “It gets me places.”
Roy Liao, a junior at Boston University, said he had to exit a Green Line car in November due to a collision.
“The one ahead of [my train] hit something,” he said. “I didn’t get to see the smash, I was in the one behind it, but I definitely had to wait awhile.”
Ester Borras, a researcher at Tufts University, said she commutes on the green line to Tufts’ medical campus in Chinatown every day. She said she has never seen any incidents or disruptions.
With implementation of the GLTPS underway, Bingaman wrote that “The MBTA is committed to ongoing transparency and will continue to provide updates on the GLTPS project’s progress.”
