Members of the independent commission charged with monitoring Metro safety said the transit system is trending in the wrong direction when it comes to ensuring that trains stop for red signals and that proper protocols are followed to keep workers safe.
The commission said safety problems included four incidents of Metro failing to follow track worker protection guidelines, three reports of red signal overruns, a near-collision involving two trains with the same radio call number, and an unreported runaway train.
“Several reports relate to roadway worker protection issues and several reports relate to running red signals, both of which are troubling and need, to me, some response because we’re not seeing trends going in the right direction on these,” Hart said. He added: “These individual reports are suggesting to me that the problem is not the individual.”
Hart and other commissioners suggested during their monthly meeting Tuesday that retraining the workers cited in the incidents was not enough. They said Metro needed to be more active in making sure all of its employees are familiar with safety guidelines.
Metro said in a statement after the meeting that it recently bought four simulators to train and retrain rail operators to avoid running red signals. The transit agency is also exploring ways to improve communication about red signals, and “additional engineering solutions are also being researched,” the statement said.
The assessment comes after Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld on Saturday lowered the threshold of the type of train or bus breakdown that triggers a full emergency response.
The heightened response and coordination among various Metro departments was in reaction to what Wiedefeld said was the mishandling of a March 26 breakdown of a Red Line train outside the Rhode Island Avenue station.
In that incident, more than 100 riders were stuck on the stalled train for 90 minutes because of a slow reaction and poor coordination, Wiedefeld said. Two passengers let themselves off the train, which carries the risks of being struck by a train or coming into contact with the electrified third rail.
After passengers were evacuated, an attempt to tow the train to a rail yard resulted in it rolling 137 feet before a worker was able to apply a hand brake.
The incidents alone are worrisome, the panel said, but safety commission officials said Metro’s own inspectors didn’t learn of the self-evacuations or runaway train until inspectors from the commission informed them.
On Tuesday, David L. Mayer, chief executive of the safety commission, said Metro’s response to the “significant safety event” continues to lag.
Mayer said Metro should have reported the runaway train to both Metrorail and the Federal Transit Administration within two hours, as U.S. rules require. Instead, the agency took days. Metro also has not shared all of its investigative information with the safety commission as required, Mayer said.
“That has not occurred in this case,” he said. “Urgency is required to identify safety events so that improvements can be made to reduce the risk of these events happening again.”
