Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) — In a 100-plus page report released Wednesday the Federal Transit Administration blasts the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for dozens of safety problems with its rail and bus services.
Some of the biggest safety lapses discussed in the report are related to the Rail Operations Control Center. The report found people in the control center who manage the movement of trains system-wide aren’t given enough training. The center is also understaffed.
Other problems outlined by the FTA include insufficient track time for maintenance, system-wide maintenance issues and poor management.
“Collectively these issues significantly impact the ability of the Metrorail system to schedule and conduct maintenance work, to manage abnormal and emergency events, and to ensure the safety of trains and personnel on the ROW [right-of-way],” the report said.
Acting Administrator of the FTA Therese McMillan told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that Metro is not unsafe, but it has to do better to improve safety for passengers and workers. She said she doesn’t own a car and will continue to ride Metro herself.
“WMATA must commit to more employee safety training, increased track time for maintenance work and a greater effort at identifying and reducing safety risks to deliver the level of safety its passengers and employees deserve,” said FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan.
WMATA has 30 days to respond to the FTA’s Safety Directive, which requires the transit agency to make nearly 78 changes to correct 44 safety problems with the train system and another 10 problems with the bus system. WMATA then has 60 more days that to submit a report detailing what it will do to fix the numerous problems.
The FTA also said it is taking action to improve subway tunnel safety nationwide in response to the National Transportation Safety Board’s urgent recommendations. Those recommendations follow the deadly L’Enfant Plaza smoke incident which killed one woman and injured 80 other people.
The NTSB continues to investigate the incident and will hold public fact-finding hearings next week.
Copyright 2015 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Raymond Bryson/Flickr.com)
