WASHINGTON — Metro could shut down entire stretches of track — on a more regular basis and for long periods of time — after findings that the agency doesn’t devote enough time to maintenance.
Metro’s top management doesn’t agree with the findings. Still, several board members say changes are needed following a Federal Transit Administration audit and the deadly smoke incident near the L’Enfant Plaza station in January.
D.C. board members Leif Dormsjo and Corbett Price asked the head of Metro’s Tristate Oversight Committee and Assistant Chief Safety Officer whether they agreed on the timetable for maintenance.
TOC chairman Emile Smith says there should be more time for track work. However, the TOC is not an independent agency, so he couldn’t make specific recommendations on particular stretches.
Price says it’s the board’s responsibility to order the changes.
Lou Brown, Metro’s assistant chief safety officer, says lengthy shutdowns — either by distance or time — could be considered in the wake of the L’Enfant Plaza incident and the derailment near Smithsonian station in August.
That investigation, set to be completed next week, expects to show issues with track inspections and processes.
A track inspection vehicle found the track should’ve been taken out of service, but the notification was deleted.
At the Metro board’s Safety and Security Committee meeting on Friday, Brown said track walkers were aware of the issue, but they didn’t continue to re-enter it into a maintenance database since it was already in there once.
