Six workers were injured when two maintenance vehicles collided on MBTA Commuter Rail tracks near Norwood Depot, triggering a heavy emergency response and hours of disrupted service on the Franklin/Foxboro Line. The crash happened on the morning of Nov. 2, sending crews to local hospitals with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
Emergency responders were dispatched to the northbound tracks near Norwood Depot after a rail worker called 911, according to The Boston Globe. Norwood Police and Fire said they responded to the scene at 8:44 a.m., according to news.jgpr.net, while NBC Boston reported that crews arrived at the tracks behind 150 Hill St. around 8:47 a.m. Norwood Fire responded with Ladder 1, Engine 5 and two ambulances, and additional ambulances came from Walpole, Westwood and Canton, per the same local report.
Keolis Says Its Own Crew Was Hurt
Keolis, which operates the MBTA Commuter Rail, said the vehicles involved were performing track work in Norwood when they made contact at low speed on the right of way. The company said the six people hurt were its own crew members who suffered minor injuries, the station's report notes. All six were transported to local hospitals, and their injuries were believed to be non-life-threatening, per the earlier statement from Norwood officials.
The crash remained under investigation by MBTA Transit Police, according to Norwood officials.
Franklin/Foxboro Line Riders Face Delays, Bus Swaps
The collision rippled through the morning commute. Trains on the Franklin/Foxboro Line were replaced by buses between Readville and Walpole, per the earlier Keolis statement relayed by NBC Boston. Foxboro Line Train 7116 ran 10 to 20 minutes behind schedule because of what officials described as a road vehicle in the right of way, the station reported.
Trains between Readville and Walpole were canceled for several hours while shuttle buses filled the gap, the Globe reported. The available evidence does not establish a confirmed final time for when regular train service was restored.
Part of a Broader Pattern on the Rails
MBTA Commuter Rail trains have also collided with motor vehicles at street crossings. Six MBTA Commuter Rail trains collided with motor vehicles across Massachusetts in just the first five months of 2025, according to MassLive. Keolis has reported 63 collisions at street crossings since 2019, with warning systems functioning properly in all but one of those cases, the outlet found.
Some of those 2025 crashes were far more severe. A February 2025 crash in Concord left a driver with minor injuries, and three subsequent collisions in Canton each injured one person, per MassLive's reporting. Separate crashes in Abington on April 30, 2025, and in Cohasset three days later killed the drivers involved, even though authorities said crossing gates and warning lights functioned properly in both cases and attributed those crashes to driver error, according to the same report.
Monday's incident in Norwood differed in one key respect: it did not involve a passenger train or a roadway crossing, but rather two maintenance vehicles working on the rail line itself. MBTA Transit Police had not released further findings as of the latest available reporting.
