If a train bursts into flames, the MBTA says the safest thing to do is remain on board until help arrives and refrain from kicking out windows or jumping into a nearby body of water to escape on your own.
Chief Safety Officer Ronald Ester said Thursday the MBTA is working to provide more communication to riders regarding its train and streetcar evacuations, to prevent what occurred on the Orange Line last summer, when terrified passengers jumped out of a train that caught fire on a bridge over the Mystic River.
One woman dove into the river, while the rest opted to lower themselves onto the electrified rail, one of several recent examples of train self-evacuation that MBTA Board of Directors member Mary Beth Mello described as “extremely dangerous.”
“We have information on each of the cars as to what the evacuation procedures are and how to move from car to car,” Ester said.
“But I think we can do a little more just to ensure that everyone understands that you don’t have to kick out windows and jump off the train, that there’s a path to the other end of the train in order for you to exit safely.”
According to Ester, there are three types of subway evacuation, depending on whether the train becomes disabled at a station, is partially berthed when an emergency situation occurs or is in between stations.
In the first two instances, passengers can usually evacuate onto a station platform. But in situations where a train is in between stations, like when three Green Line trolleys became stuck in a subway tunnel last month, the evacuation procedures become more nuanced.
For incidents that require evacuation, Ester said the train operator must immediately contact the operations control center and then proceed to make an on-board announcement to customers, informing them of the situation and providing them with instructions.
If it is safe, the operator will wait to evacuate passengers until emergency responders arrive to facilitate the process, he said.
Following initial notification, the OCC “will immediately open power and stop all train movement” in the area around the incident; identify the incident commander, who will be the point of contact until emergency responders arrive, and send MBTA personnel to the scene, Ester said.
Ester said all T employees who work on the rail lines, including train operators, inspectors and supervisory personnel, receive training on these evacuation procedures as part of their initial certification and qualification to work, and again as part of their annual recertification.
However, board members said that classroom training does not necessarily prepare employees for emergency situations, and wanted to know if there were any “real-life” evacuation drills being conducted.
Ester responded that there was.
“This whole self-evacuation issue is problematic,” Mello said. “People are doing it — they get nervous no matter how good your procedures are.”