Member Spotlight

Rhea DeSilva

Member Spotlight

Quick action can prevent disaster. Just ask Green Line operator Rhea DeSilva, who has been a member of Local 589 for almost three years. She started her career with the MBTA after her sister, an MBTA bus driver for over a decade, encouraged her to apply.

On April 10, 2022, Rhea was working an ordinary late-night shift when she noticed something wrong with the rails while passing through Packard's Corner. "I always look at my rail when I'm working," she points out. "It's one of the first things they teach you—always look at your rail, read your rail, make sure you're going in the right direction, make sure there are no defects in the rail." After spotting the broken rail, Rhea tried but couldn't get a hold of her dispatcher. "I flag down an operator who comes along," she recalls, "and sure enough, Jarvis, whom I worked with at Mattapan, is coming forward. I said I think the track is broken back there, so don't go over it, pull up to it, take a look at it, and call OCC."

The Broken Track on Packard's Corner

If Rhea hadn't acted quickly and flagged down her fellow operator, Jarvis Holloman-Slash, there could have been a major derailment. "I'm happy we're able to prevent any kind of derailment to that particular area," she says, "because that street is so busy, and we get a lot of people coming in and out from that area, so that was good work."

Rhea credits the training she received from her instructor, Rich Austin, for giving her the tools she needed to successfully prevent a derailment, "My instructor was amazing. He gave us the tools in our bag to get us going, even though we didn't necessarily get to practice certain tools during training. You only have a certain amount of time to respond, and he gave us all those tools to build upon." The training Rhea received has helped make her into one of many skilled operators who work for the MBTA. "We're all very skilled operators," she notes. "I think about what we do daily. Driving that thing is not easy. Keeping the city moving, pushing people all day every day is not an easy job, and we do it."

Rhea explains why she's so proud to work for MBTA: "We get people home, we get people to pick up their kids at the end of the day, we get them to the hospitals, we get them to where they need to go on a daily basis. When I look back on it, our service to the city, it's really great."

Thank you to Rhea and all members of Local 589 for the amazing service you provide every day!