New audit raises concerns over Metrorail safety
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — A new report is raising concerns about safety on Metrorail.
The audit, from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC), Metrorail’s independent regulator, found employees responsible for overseeing major technical repairs often don’t understand enough about the safety measures needed to get the job done right.
According to one of the findings, automatic train control engineers could not reliably determine whether the system was working properly.
Another issue identified was that maintenance workers did not understand how to maintain certain track circuits, which are key to keeping track of where trains are so they are not in the same area.
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Auditors also found workers closed preventive maintenance work orders without finishing the work.
Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 689 represents Metrorail workers. Union leaders said they received the audit Wednesday morning, and are not ready to comment on what it found. But the union promises to work with Metrorail to fix any problems.
Passengers did not seem fazed by the report.
“I would say that’s probably with any type of job,” said Tobi Thomas, a regular passenger. “A lot of people don’t follow the rules nowadays.”
WMATA operates Metrorail, and said in an email late Wednesday afternoon, “We are reviewing the recommendations outlined in WMSC’s audit and appreciate the collaboration from our regional partners in the effort to maintain a safe, reliable system.”
The issue could be discussed further during Thursday’s WMATA board meeting. A big topic on that agenda is the return to automatic train operations for the first time since 2009.
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