The MBTA has fired four employees at its Cabot Yard maintenance facility amid its criminal investigation into allegations they were working on vehicles that did not belong to the agency during work hours, general manager Phil Eng said Wednesday.
A total of seven employees at the facility in South Boston have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation by the Transit Police continues, one more than the 10 Eng confirmed were facing discipline last week. That employee was “observed but not directly engaged in the activity” and will remain on leave pending review, the T said in a statement.
Eng declined to provide specifics, including what prompted the investigation and a timeline for when it began, but he told reporters following an event that “this is about conduct and professional conduct that is not consistent with MBTA values.”
The agency first said that it had placed employees on leave at a T facility on Oct. 19 but provided no other details.
Eng publicly confirmed for the first time that the probe is focused on Cabot Yard when asked about the investigation immediately following the agency’s board of directors meeting last week. The facility located off Dorchester Avenue is used to store and maintain Red Line vehicles and is the home base for Red Line track workers and inspectors.
“The MBTA has taken decisive action based on our findings to date and terminated four employees found to be directly involved,” Eng said in a statement Wednesday. “As a public agency, it is our responsibility to be good stewards of public resources and to leverage all possible resources to deliver the best service for our riders.”
The probe marks the latest controversy for the T, which has recently been maligned for slow trains, derailments, equipment malfunctions, and allegations of employee negligence. The agency is also facing a funding gap in its operations budget that could balloon to more than $700 million next summer.
The allegations at Cabot Yard arrive as federal regulators have been reviewing work and safety practices at the agency amid recent incidents this month. On Oct. 1, a Green Line train derailed in Cambridge, in part because the operator was exceeding the posted speed limit, according to a preliminary report. Less than two weeks later, a man suffered fatal injuries when he was struck by the driver of an MBTA bus at the Forest Hills Station in Jamaica Plain.
Eng said Wednesday that the “alleged misconduct [at Cabot Yard] does not reflect the values of the MBTA community” and “will not impact the progress we are delivering.”
In the wake of the controversy at the facility, the T said it is engaging its management teams to increase their visits to sites and “maintain a visible presence across our locations.”
“We are taking these allegations very seriously, as we have an obligation to the public we serve and to our workforce to ensure that every employee meets the highest standards of conduct,” Eng said. “We will continue to take all necessary actions to ensure accountability based on the findings of the investigation and prevent a situation like this from happening again.”
Eng, who took the helm of the agency in April 2023 following a long series of safety issues, has worked to win back the trust of riders during his tenure, such as by improving the reliability of service. The T is currently on track to rid the entire subway system of speed restrictions by the end of the year — an effort it launched last fall.
At an event hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Wednesday afternoon, Eng, who often speaks about reforming the culture of the T, said the agency has “come a long way, but we have a lot more to do.”
“We are taking a hard look at things,” he said. “It is a cultural shift. Because we want people to share information — that’s the only way to get better. And when incidents do occur, we learn from them too, and we need to improve.”
The Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589 said Wednesday that it is “aware of the developments related to the employment of these individual workers” but is waiting to address them until it receives “additional information from the MBTA.”
“We will respond appropriately as we receive that information and once any formal review process related to these matters has concluded,” the union said in a statement.
Previous Globe material was used in this report.
Shannon Larson can be reached at shannon.larson@globe.com. Follow her @shannonlarson98.