John Matthews
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — Metro riders can expect delays and disruptions along the Red Line in downtown D.C. Tuesday morning in the wake of Monday’s derailment near the Farragut North station.
Trains shall be single tracking Tuesday between the Judiciary Square and Farragut North stations, with Red Line service effectively running every 10 minutes along the entire run from Shady Grove to Glenmont as crews investigate and repair the track.
Investigators suspect a rail cracked and crumbled, causing three of the eight cars of a 7000-series Metro train to derail Monday.
Red Line Incident update: Investigators believe the derailment was caused by a break in the rail that occurred as the train was passing over the incident location. First 4 cars of train passed incident location without incident. Cars 5, 6, & 7 derailed. #wmata
— Metro (@wmata) January 15, 2018
63 passengers had to be rescued from the broken down train amid smoke, dust and power outages. There were no serious injuries.
“Metro has come a long way in terms of emergency response since the L’Enfant Plaza smoke incident in 2015,” said Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans in a statement. “This furthers the case that Metro desperately needs bondable, dedicated funding. I implore the jurisdictions to come up with a dedicated funding source to aid in making sure Metro is safe for riders and employees,” he added.
The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation to determine the specific cause of the incident, but it will take months for a final report to be released.
For more details on Metro’s plans to deal with commuters, CLICK HERE.
Copyright 2018 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (PHOTO: WMATA/Twitter)
