T workers honored for halting runaway train

Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Baker and transit officials will recognize the workers who helped stop the runaway train.

There was a disciplinary hearing for that train driver scheduled for Monday. DePaola would not say if or when he plans to fire Vazquez, citing that the MBTA does not discuss personnel matters publicly but warned any T worker found violating safety rules could be fired, according a statement from DePaola emailed by Pesaturo.

After leaving the Braintree station a little past 6 a.m., the runaway train went through Quincy before MBTA workers were able to shut down the third rail and stop the train just past North Quincy.

Two Massachusetts transit employees whose quick action is credited with bringing a driverless train to a safe stop have been honored at a Statehouse ceremony.

The driverless train carrying about 50 passengers left the Braintree station Thursday morning and rumbled through several stations. “Once they make a recommendation to me, it’s my responsibility as general manager to carry it out”.

After a disciplinary hearing Tuesday held in Red Line offices at JFK/UMass Station, managers for the Red Line and MBTA subway operations made a formal recommendation for 53-year-old David Vazquez to be terminated, the official said.

Multiple reports have indicated the operator rigged the controls to keep the train in motion and officials have said he did not set either of the two brakes required before stepping off the train to switch it into bypass mode – which allows the train to move past faulty signals and also disengages the collision avoidance system. “It started with the snow; it ended with this – hope that’s the last of it”, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said.

Engaging in such “prohibited acts” is a cause for firing, she added. The operator has not been named and was placed on administrative leave on Thursday.