Inoperable brakes blamed for July SEPTA trolley crash that injured 3, report finds
PHILADELPHIA - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) shared preliminary findings into a SEPTA trolley crash in late July that sent two people to the hospital and caused over $500k in damages.
Investigators say on July 27th a trolley being driven by a maintenance worker rolled downhill on Island Avenue and slammed into an SUV with four people inside and continue into the Blue Bell Inn.
Two people inside the vehicle were sent to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, and the Blue Bell Inn suffered roughly $300,000 in damages, according to the report.
The maintenance worker, who jumped from the runaway trolley and suffered minor injuries, was reportedly "unable to apply the brakes and stop the trolley from moving downhill."
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The NTSB report found that the trolley was undergoing an air compressor replacement at SEPTA's Elmwood maintenance facility earlier in the day and its brakes were made inoperable.
Just before the accident, investigators say a shift foreman instructed a maintenance worker to move the trolley for temporary storage. That worker, according to the report, told NTSB investigators that he was given no warning or indication that the trolley's air brakes were inoperable.
The maintenance worker was unable to apply the brakes while driving the trolley on Island Avenue, causing it to continue downhill at about 20 MPH before it derailed at the intersection of Woodland Avenue.
SEPTA estimated equipment damage to be about $500k. An appraisal company evaluated the damage inflicted on the Blue Bell Inn - a building built before the Revolutionary War - and estimated the cost to be around $300k.
SEPTA vehicles were involved in five crashes in July alone, including a violent collision between two buses on Roosevelt Boulevard that claimed the life of a 72-year-old woman and injured others.
The series of crashes prompted an investigation by the NTSB with reported involvement from the Federal Transit Administration into the safety procedures instituted by SEPTA.
SEPTA - the nation's sixth-largest transportation network - responded by retraining all of its employees in the company's existing safety standards.
"The safety for our customers and employees is always our top priority, and we are redoubling our efforts to be even more intentional about safety in everything we do," CEO Lesile S. Richards said.