MBTA investigates after another ceiling panel falls at Red Line station

    CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (WCVB) -- The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said it is investigating after a station ceiling panel fell onto a passenger platform below.

The incident happened just before 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Harvard Station on the Red Line.

"With the safety of customers and employees its top priority, the MBTA is investigating an incident this morning in which a single panel fell from the ceiling at Harvard Station on the southbound platform," the MBTA said in a statement.

There were no injuries and Red Line service was not impacted.

"This is, like, clearly a problem, I take the train every day, and, like, kids, families always in the train station and that just cannot be happening," said rider Jaly Jah Davis.

The MBTA said the panel is made of light tin material and did show signs of corrosion. MBTA engineering and station facilities management personnel are investigating.

"It's very old, the trains are new, some of them, but the stations themselves, are very old," said rider Lance Hartgrove.

Visual inspections of this area occur on a regular basis, and the MBTA performed a hands-on inspection of the panels using ladders last summer.

Similar panels at Harvard Station will be removed overnight.

"Needing of an update or an upgrade, but at the same time, I don't know how much that would cost. It would probably cost a lot," said rider Nick Wayland.

A similar incident happened at Harvard Station in March 2023. Surveillance video released by MBTA in that incident showed several riders walking near the bottom of an escalator when a panel suddenly falls from above, narrowly missing them, and throwing out a large cloud of dark dust.

After the 2023 incident, the MBTA said their initial findings showed that, over time, water had accumulated in the panel insulation and corroded the metal rivets holding it in place.

The panels were installed in the 1980s and used for aesthetics and soundproofing.