Metro, oversight group close to deal on track inspections
By: Kytja Weir
Examiner Staff Writer
November 10, 2009
Metro and the group charged with overseeing the transit system said they are resolving a dispute on when and how train tracks can be inspected.
The transit agency would not let the Tri-State Oversight Committee inspect its tracks during train operation because of safety concerns, according to The Washington Post.
Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein acknowledged the two sides had exchanged letters over when inspectors could access tracks. But she told The Examiner that a verbal agreement had been reached and the inspectors are welcome to inspect any tracks at any time as long as they have safety training and are accompanied by a safety escort.
Eric Madison, a D.C. Department of Transportation employee and chairman of the Tri-State Oversight Committee, told The Examiner that the group and Metro were "close to resolving this issue by developing a formal policy."
The rift over the inspections is the latest example of the frustrations by the little-known oversight group that lacks any real teeth to regulate Metro.
In July, The Examiner reported that Metro had ignored a request from the committee to give "a written justification providing factual evidence" of how putting its oldest rail cars in the middle of trains makes the transit system any safer. Such Rohr 1000 Series cars had collapsed during the June 22 deadly train crash.
The group said in a letter that it had not been given any "engineering analyses, written professional opinions, crash-test data or even anecdotal evidence to support this measure."
Metro does not face federal safety standards. The National Transportation Safety Board investigates some deadly crashes but it cannot force the agency to follow its recommendations. Unlike airlines, freight and commuter trains, transit systems do not face penalties when they fail to operate safely. Instead, a network of self-enforced rules and a checkerboard of state oversight bodies watch over them but cannot force transit systems to operate safely.
Until the train crash, Metro and local officials said they didn't know that the Tri-State Oversight Committee existed. Even top officials have been unable to say what the group has done.
The oversight board is made up of at least six members, two each from D.C., Virginia and Maryland, but it has no authority to enforce its findings with fines, civil actions or other penalties. The Federal Transit Administration can withhold up to 5 percent of the agency's federal funding if the oversight group shows the agency has failed to comply, but the FTA has never withheld the money.
Meanwhile, local congressional leaders are pushing legislation to create national safety standards.
"Safety is an urgent issue for Metro and for our region," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who sponsored the Senate version of the bill. "Federal safety standards made in consultation with the National Transportation Safety Board are critical in keeping our Metro passengers and crew safe and secure. We have no time to lose."
