Metro has suspended two employees without pay for an accident in which a Red Line train derailed at a Metro rail yard.
A train operator and the interlocking operator in charge of rail yard movements had both “violated standard operating procedure” in the March 10 incident, according to the transit agency.
The train operator was suspended for 30 days and the interlocking operator was suspended for 10 days, both without pay, on April 6, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. They had been on paid administrative since the accident, while the case was investigated.
They were the latest Metro employees involved in rail accidents — and the second derailment caused after running of a red light.
The train was being moved inside the Brentwood rail yard without any passengers aboard when the operator apparently ran a red signal, according to Metro’s initial reports. The front two wheels of the four-car train derailed, causing damage to the track and the third rail.
No one was injured. The operator driving the train, another operator inside it, and the operator of the interlocking device on that section of rail were given drug and alcohol tests, as is standard after a crash.
No one was injured. The operator driving the train, another operator inside it, and the operator of the interlocking device on that section of rail were given drug and alcohol tests, as is standard after a crash.
Transit officials did not release news of the incident to the public. The Washington Examiner learned of it from two Metro employees who asked not to be named.
It came on the heels of a Feb. 12 derailment of a Red Line train loaded with passengers. In that case, the operator was reportedly directed onto a side-pocket track and ran a red signal, prompting the train to derail as a protective measure from taking the train into the path of other trains. She had returned to work just before the incident after she had been out on medical leave for about nine years, sources said. She was subsequently fired.
