ABINGTON, Mass. — The Town of Abington is requesting that the MBTA address safety concerns regarding the train crossings in the town.
Abingtons said in a statement Wednesday that there have been 35 incidents involving malfunctioning crossing gates, including “gates that failed to lower when trains approached and gates that remained down long after trains passed.”
In one recent incident, all seven crossings in town failed at once, forcing police officers to reroute traffic for an extended period of time, the town said.
Abington’s Board of Selectmen previously sent a letter to MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng in spring 2023 asking for help making safety improvements along Abington’s seven commuter rail crossings.
A few months later, the MBTA announced they were committed to making safety upgrades across the state following decades of crashes and deaths along the Kingston Commuter Rail line in Abington.
Abington Town Manager Scott Lambiase hired transportation safety consultants in 2022 to study the town’s railroad crossings following the death of 18-year-old Katelyn McCarthy in May. The Abington High School senior was hit and killed by a commuter rail train at Birch St. while walking across the tracks with a friend.
One woman died after her SUV was struck by a commuter rail train on Centre Avenue in April.
“These repeated failures pose unacceptable safety risks and place a significant financial and operational burden on our police and first responders,” Town Manager Scott J. Lambiase said in a statement. “We have raised these concerns with the MBTA multiple times, but the continued malfunctions make it clear that stronger action is needed.”
Boston 25 News has reached out to the MBTA for comment.
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