Investigation Sheds Some Light on Derailment

WASHINGTON - Just what caused the derailment of a Metro train on Sunday that injured 20 people? New details have emerged in the investigation.

Metro now says the type of car involved in the derailment has accounted for more than half of the 15 derailments in the subway system since 2001.

The cars, built by the Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar Ferrocarriles S.A., have been involved in eight derailments since they cars came on line. Sunday's incident was the only derailment in which passengers were on the train.

Metro had previously provided information about only five derailments involving the cars -- Sunday's and four that occurred in 2003 and 2004.

The cars account for about 20 percent of Metro's fleet.

Metro officials say they will cooperate fully with the investigation and that its cars have not been at fault in previous derailments.

Meanwhile, the operator of a second train headed in the opposite direction and waiting on the track was first to call in the derailment at Mt. Vernon Square.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Kitty Higgins says they now want to speak with the second operator and compare interviews.

The NTSB also wants to know what caused a nine-minute gap in between when the derailment occurred and when it was called in to 911.

Higgins says the NTSB has spoken with the woman driving the train that derailed, and will compare her information to data taken from the "event recorders."

"We've heard from her what happened and we now have to confirm that report with the data," Higgins says.

The NTSB also wants to take a closer look at wheels on the train's fifth car.

On Wednesday, the damaged subway car was removed from the downtown section of track where the derailment occurred and towed to the Metrorail rail yard, just beyond the Greenline's Branch Avenue station.

The derailment occurred when a six-car train was pulling into the Mount Vernon Square station, beneath the Washington Convention Center, when the fifth car slipped off the track.

Twenty people were taken to the hospital, including one in serious condition and one pregnant woman. They have all since been released.

(Copyright 2007 by WTOP and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)