Photo: Madison Rogers - WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — State lawmakers have struck a deal aimed at helping the MBTA that's plagued withy safety problems, adding hundreds of millions of dollars for the T to a massive $11.3 billion dollar infrastructure bond bill.
On Monday, that bill is now on Governor Baker's desk. It would put $400 million dollars toward the MBTA's safety goals as a federal investigation intensifies. Sunday afternoon, Transportation Committee member Rep. William Straus said the legislation will address some of the "disturbing" things the committee learned about the MBTA.
Recent roll-away trains, derailments, and fires are in the spotlight, along with a critical staffing shortage among dispatchers the T says it needs to remedy before restoring full weekday service.
The MBTA has been instructed to provide daily updates to the FTA starting Monday regarding a 'immediate safety stand-down' ordered by the feds over the weekend. Under that order, the MBTA is required to re-train all employees who work on trains, and the workers involved in disabled train incidents will not be able to work until they receive that mandatory training.
Just a week and a half ago, a fire broke out on an Orange Line train crossing a bridge in Somerville, causing panicked evacuations over the Mystic River.
Orange Line riders at Wellington Station during the Monday morning commute were well in agreement with the move by Beacon Hill.
"Anything they can do to improve it," one man said.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) has more:
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