One Metro train, two too many cars
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
August 11, 2009
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| (Andrew Harnik/Examiner) |
A Metro employee tested positive for drugs as part of an investigation into why a Green Line train that passed through five stations in late July was put together with too many cars to fit on station platforms, The Examiner has learned.
The 10-car train, which left Greenbelt at 4:50 p.m. July 31, was south of Fort Totten about 20 minutes later when the operator was told by a passenger via the intercom that there were two additional cars at the back of the train, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. Metro's platforms were designed to handle nothing longer than eight-car trains.
The operator, Taubenkibel said, surveyed the train once he reached Georgia Avenue and confirmed the extra cars, though no passengers were on board either. He radioed the operations control center, which had the train removed from service and transported to the Branch Avenue Railyard for an investigation.
"That is a serious issue because the train that left the yard should have left with eight cars, not any more," Taubenkibel said. "That should have been identified."
There are employees, he said, who "are supposed to check to make sure you have the proper amount of rail cars on the train."
As part of the investigation, the personnel responsible for staging the train were asked to submit to standard drug and alcohol testing. One employee tested positive for drug use, Taubenkibel said.
"The employee has entered a rehabilitation program and is not currently earning a salary," he said.
The transit system operates 10-car trains on occasion, often between rail yards, but never with passengers aboard.
The incident remains under investigation and no formal disciplinary action has been handed down, Taubenkibel said.
Metro and its employees have been under scrutiny for foulups since the June 22 Red Line crash that killed nine people and injured dozens more. Recent reports in The Examiner and elsewhere of near-miss collisions and of Metrobus drivers texting and reading behind the wheel have marred the transit system's reputation.
But David Alpert, founder of the GreaterGreaterWashington.com transit-oriented blog, urged Metro users to keep it all in perspective. Those near misses and mistakes, he said, "happen every minute of every day on the roads around the region."
"It is really troubling and frustrating that all of these little incidents keep coming out about Metro," Alpert said. "We should hold Metro to a really high standard, but it's important to keep in mind that no transportation system is perfect."
mneibauer@washingtonexaminer.com
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