Conductor Faulted in Passenger’s Death

A commuter train conductor was wrong to continue making scheduled stops for 20 minutes while a passenger was having a heart attack, Amtrak said in a report late Saturday.

The passenger, James R. Allen, 61, of Wellesley, Mass., later died at a Boston hospital.

The report said conductor James Peros did not “quickly and accurately assess the situation and notify the dispatcher as soon as possible.”

Amtrak’s crews run the commuter trains for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the MBTA just received the Amtrak report late Saturday and had not reviewed it.

Peros, who has been suspended, will be formally disciplined, the report said.

MBTA will invite an independent consultant to review safety policies, general manager Mike Mulhern said Saturday.

In statements given to Amtrak and the MBTA, Peros said he received an initial report from assistant conductor Walter LaCombe before 9 a.m. that a passenger had a weak pulse and trouble breathing.

But based on that information and the heat Tuesday, Peros said he did not think the situation was “critical” and requested an ambulance at Back Bay instead of two nearer stations.

When he went to check on the situation himself just two minutes later, he saw CPR being administered and he realized the condition was “more serious.” He then used a phone to confirm paramedics would be waiting at Back Bay.

However, the train stopped at West Newton and Newtonville, asking passengers to hurry aboard before making the 11-minute run to Back Bay.

Peros defended his decision to proceed to the Back Bay station because medical personnel weren’t as accessible at the Newton stops. LaCombe refused a request to be interviewed by the MBTA on advice of his union, Pesaturo said.

Amtrak Chief Operating Officer E.S. Bagley Jr. said operating procedures do not specify when and where a train must stop during a medical emergency, and the discretion is left to the conductor.

However, Bagley said a notice had been issued to Amtrak’s New England Division ordering trains to stop at the closest station.