WASHINGTON – After a new Federal Transit Administration directive ordered Metro to do more to keep train operators from speeding or running through red signals, the agency says it’s working with the oversight group on solutions.
The directive also fills in new details on what Metro must do to inspect and maintain the automatic train control system, which was partly blamed for the 2009 Red Line crash.
“Particularly the ATC [required actions], we’re just trying to digest,” Metro’s Acting Chief Safety Officer Lou Brown told a Metro Board committee Thursday.
Board Chairman Mort Downey said some of the things in the directive were new to him, including detail on problems with the ATC maintenance and the issues with speeding and trains blowing through red signals.
Many of the train control system maintenance issues had been identified by the Tri-State Oversight Commission before the FTA assumed lead oversight for Metro this fall.
However, the FTA is providing more detail on how Metro needs to address issues like better training, tracking of work efforts, inspection sheets that are not pre-filled out, and tracking of inspections that are supposed to be conducted every one to five years.
The FTA also issued eight required actions to address red signal violations, including improved trainings and briefings on where signals and speed restrictions are in place on the tracks, improved radio communication with the Rail Operations Control Center, and adjusted schedules so that train operators don’t feel as much pressure to exceed speed limits.
Brown said Metro is “very serious” and “very dedicated” to improving safety for customers and employees. The agency needs to deliver 700 combined “actionable items” to the FTA. Those items include plans for how Metro will fix the issues identified by the FTA, and some updates on progress.
Brown said the FTA has been positive about Metro’s actions since the FTA’s initial round of directives earlier this fall.
“As part of a healthy safety program, there should always be findings,” he said. “There should always be findings from internal safety and security audits as well as from investigations.”
Some of the new issues raised in the latest directive were identified by regularly scheduled internal Metro audits.
Brown expects final reports to come out within the next several months on two of Metro’s largest incidents this year.
He said the National Transportation Safety Board has been asking Metro for some clarifications, and a the final report on the deadly smoke incident near the L’Enfant Plaza Station should be issued by spring.
Brown also expects more information about the summer derailment of a train near the Smithsonian station to be released soon. Metro said more details cannot be released until the federal review is complete.
