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[CNJRoss]

WMATA new release:

 

Metro Transit Police open derailment investigation

 

Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld announced today that the investigation into the East Falls Church derailment, which began as an administrative review by the Safety Department, has been expanded to include an investigation by Metro Transit Police.

 

Wiedefeld directed the Metro Transit Police Department to open a parallel investigation into the matter following a briefing in which investigators advised him of concerns arising from employee interviews, inspection reports, rail defect tracking, and video recordings.

 

“The administrative review uncovered information that warrants further investigation by Metro Transit Police,” Wiedefeld said.  “While Safety Department investigations determine cause and accountability, it is even more important to understand if other issues must be addressed with the way track inspections and maintenance have been conducted.”

 

Metro’s General Counsel, Patricia Y. Lee, has engaged two former Assistant U.S. Attorneys as Special Investigators to support the internal administrative review. Adam Hoffinger, a former AUSA for the Southern District of New York, and Peter White, a former AUSA for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia, will work closely with Lee on this matter.  Both have extensive prosecutorial experience with complex cases.

 

"The public has a right to know that the tracks on which their trains run are being properly inspected," said Wiedefeld. "The information uncovered to date raises potentially serious concerns, and we will take all actions necessary to get answers and hold people accountable."

 

Wiedefeld assured riders today that the SafeTrack program underway (in which Metro tracks are being inspected and repaired) has been and will continue to be subject to quality controls from multiple internal and external groups to ensure all track work meets Metro’s high standards. (At the time of the derailment, East Falls Church interlocking had not yet been addressed as part of SafeTrack.)  Metro is engaging an outside engineering firm to conduct a comprehensive review of its track inspection program.

 

"While we continue the due diligence to identify the cause of any conditions that may have contributed to this incident, Metro is simultaneously repairing the system and providing better rules, training, quality control and line management," said Wiedefeld.

[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 8/18:

 

Metro opens police investigation into Silver Line derailment near East Falls Church

WASHINGTON — Metro Transit Police have opened an investigation into last month’s derailment of a Silver Line train on crumbling tracks near East Falls Church.

 

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That is in addition to a Federal Transit Administration review of the derailment, which was incorporated into a scathing track safety report last week, and an initial report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

 

Metro’s new general counsel has hired two former federal prosecutors as special investigators to support the internal administrative review, which is separate from the police investigation.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 8/18:
 

Metro opens police investigation into East Falls Church derailment

 

Metro’s hunt for the cause of last month’s derailment of a Silver Line train is now a police investigation, the agency said Thursday.

 

General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld announced that Metro Transit Police are opening a parallel investigation into the July 29 incident, in which a train derailed outside of East Falls Church station — a move that suggests that some kind of criminal wrongdoing from maintenance workers or inspectors could have contributed to the derailment.

 

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“The administrative review uncovered information that warrants further investigation by Metro Transit Police,” Wiedefeld said in a statement. “While Safety Department investigations determine cause and accountability, it is even more important to understand if other issues must be addressed with the way track inspections and maintenance have been conducted.”

 

According to Metro, Wiedefeld decided to request police involvement after investigators alerted him to information that had been gleaned from interviews with employees, inspection reports, video recordings, and rail defect tracking.

 

More here.

[CNJRoss]

LATE POST

The Washington Post, 8/3:
 

Metro officials may have known of track defect in 2009, NTSB officials say

 

A limited investigation into last week’s derailment of a Silver Line Metro train has found that Metro officials may have known about problems with track in that area since 2009, according to findings released by the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday.

 

NTSB investigators also found that Metro officials continue to violate their own standards for ensuring the safety of the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use the system daily.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 12/1:
 

NTSB releases cause of July Metro train derailment

WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board says Metro’s ineffective inspection and maintenance practices are to blame for the derailment of a train near the East Falls Church Metro station in July.

 

The report out Thursday says the cause of the derailment was that the rails became too far apart because of the continued use of deteriorating crossties.

 

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[CNJRoss]

NTSB 12/1:
 

 Railroad Accident Brief: Derailment of WMATA Metrorail Train in Interlocking, Falls Church, Virginia

 

Executive Summary

​On July 29, 2016, about 6:14 a.m. eastern daylight time, outbound (westbound) Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metrorail train 602 derailed while traversing a crossover in the East Falls Church interlocking, operating on the Silver Line in Falls Church, Virginia. About 63 passengers were on board the six-car passenger train, all of whom were evacuated out of the lead car, assisted by the Metro Transit Police Department. Three passengers reported injuries, including one who was hospitalized.

Probable Cause

​The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was a wide track gage condition resulting from the sustained use of deteriorating wooden crossties due to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s ineffective inspection and maintenance practices and inadequate safety oversight.

 

 

 

NTSB RAB 1606 - .pdf w/photos

[CNJRoss]

WTOP Radio, 12/1:
 

Metro track inspectors copied old reports at site of derailment

 

 

WASHINGTON — Metro track inspectors copied the same details over and over for months, even years, regarding the condition of the tracks outside the East Falls Church Station, where a train derailed in July, and told investigators that they were pressured not to accurately report the severity of track conditions.

 

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Fifteen times this year and 34 times in 2015, Metro track inspection reports show the exact same note: “15 deteriorating ties in the diamond area” of the interlocking outside of East Falls Church Station — the same spot where the derailment occurred.

 

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[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 12/2:
 

Heads need to roll over falsified Metro reports, Connolly says

 

WASHINGTON — After federal reports revealed that Metro track inspectors falsified reports on the tracks outside the East Falls Church station in the months before a train derailed there in July, a congressman says it’s time for people to lose their jobs.

 

“Lying and falsifying records, especially involving safety, cannot be tolerated, period. … No appeal, no arbitration. You lose your job,” U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia, a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, told WTOP on Friday.

 

The inspectors told investigators that they were pressured by supervisors to falsify information — 49 times since 2015, the exact same note on the section of track where the derailment happened was found in track reports, apparently copied and pasted from previous reports — and would face pushback and retaliation when they reported problems.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 12/15:
 

Metro fires six employees after derailment probe reveals inspectors falsified records

 

Metro has fired six employees following an investigation of the July 29 derailment of a Silver Line train outside East Falls Church, and six more terminations or suspensions are pending, the agency said, after an internal review determined workers had falsified track inspection records.

 

The transit agency said it has taken disciplinary action against 28 people since the incident occurred, representing “nearly half of the track inspection department,” General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said. The department consists of about 60 people. After the incident, Metro opened a police investigation into the actions leading up to the derailment. No arrests have been made, but prosecutors have been briefed on the findings and are “taking the matter under advisement,” Metro said.

 

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[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 12/15:
 

Nearly half of Metro track inspectors disciplined over falsified reports

 

 

WASHINGTON — Nearly half of Metro’s track inspection department has been fired or staff members face disciplinary action in response to problems exposed by a July derailment.

 

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Disturbing indifference to safety

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said Thursday that four track inspectors and two supervisors have been fired, six more track inspectors are pending termination or unpaid suspension, 10 more track inspectors could face less serious discipline, one more supervisor is being fired, two more supervisors are in the administrative discipline process, two top managers have been demoted and one assistant superintendent left Metro before he could be disciplined.

 

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