10 MBTA Employees Placed On Leave Amid Investigation In Boston | Across Massachusetts, MA Patch
Traffic & Transit
10 MBTA Employees Placed On Leave Amid Investigation In Boston
The investigation concerns the Cabot Yard and Maintenance Facility, where Red Line trains and buses are maintained and stored.
BOSTON, MA — Ten Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority employees have been placed on administrative leave amid an investigation into "potential criminal activity" at the Cabot Yard and Maintenance Facility in South Boston, where Red Line trains and buses are maintained and stored, officials told Patch Friday.
MBTA General Manager Phil Eng told the Boston Globe "It appears [the employees] were doing something that they should not have been doing on MBTA property or MBTA time," adding to WCVB that they are accused of "working on vehicles during downtime."
An official confirmed to Patch Friday that the investigation involves "the misuse of resources for non-work related activities."
As noted by the Globe, federal regulators have recently been reviewing work and safety practices at the T. On Oct. 1, a Green Line train derailed in Cambridge after the driver was "exceeding the posted speed limit," and later, a man was killed after being struck by an MBTA bus at the Forest Hills station.
But safety concerns were raised long before this month. An audit released over the summer that spanned Jan. 2021 to Dec. 2022 found that most station safety inspections were not completed on schedule and that the MBTA "didn't effectively manage its contract with customer service ambassadors" and "failed to train them on the T's operations and safety practices," NBC10 Boston reported.
"The safety and well-being of MBTA riders and employees are of the utmost importance," a representative told Patch Friday morning. "The MBTA has more than doubled the size of its Safety Department in the past three years, broadening the scope of its activities and training thousands of employees to help foster a culture in which safety is prioritized and integrated into the MBTA's core mission of delivering safe and reliable services on a daily basis."
Eng added in a statement that they "take these allegations very seriously, and any findings from this investigation will be addressed appropriately and in alignment with our core values."
He continued: "As public servants, we have an obligation to properly fulfill our duties, not only for the public we serve but for our entire workforce, and we will take all necessary actions regarding this matter."
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