Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday described himself as “really anxious” for federal investigators to publish early findings about last week’s Green Line trolley crash, saying that while all of those injured in the incident appear to be doing well, the impact could have been worse.
A Green Line trolley traveling westbound on the B Branch struck another trolley from behind on Friday evening, causing damage to both cars.
First responders treated 25 people in the wake of the crash, according to the MBTA, and Baker said Monday that “everybody there seems to be okay.”
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“I’m really anxious to find out exactly what happened because this could have been a far more significant incident than it was given the estimates that are out there about how fast that train was traveling when it hit the other train,” Baker told reporters at a housing event.
MBTA officials have not said how fast the vehicles were traveling at the time of the impact.
The National Transportation Safety Board has four investigators on scene to examine the crash.
A spokesperson for the agency said Monday that a preliminary report should be available “in a few weeks” and added that full investigations of major crashes and those involving injuries often run 12 to 24 months.
Baker last week signed a law creating a new seven-member MBTA board of directors to succeed the Fiscal and Management Control Board, which served as the T’s governing body from 2015 until lawmakers allowed it to expire on June 30.
Talks about the composition of a new board had been onging for months.
Asked Monday about how long it would take to convene the new panel, Baker initially hesitated to offer a clear date and then estimated he would appoint the five members under his authority “sometime in the next four to six weeks.”
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