TriMet fires MAX operator after child left at station

Union says agency should have fixed an intercom communications problem

The Portland Tribune, Nov 23, 2009, Updated Nov 25, 2009 (16 Reader comments)

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TriMet fired Wednesday the operator of a MAX train that left a 3-year-old boy separated from his father on a Southeast Portland light-rail platform on Nov. 16.

"His actions posed a potential danger to public safety," says Mary Fetsch, TriMet spokeswoman.

The operator's name has not been released by TriMet.

The boy was reunited within minutes after the father boarded a train headed back to the station. Orianne Greene, a 22-year-old nursing student, stayed with the child on the platform until his father returned about seven minutes later.

The union representing TriMet driver blamed a known communication problem on the train for the problem, however, accusing the regional transit agency of "throwing the driver under the train."

Transit Union 757 President Jon Hunt said, “Our preliminary investigation has shown the following: A test on the train’s intercom system the day of the event indicates that the two-way communication system did not work. No alert whatsoever appeared in the operator’s cab. The data recorder also shows that every time the passenger frantically pushed the button, the passenger canceled his prior call."

Hunt said TriMet is aware of the problem and has not fixed it.

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