A Red Line train derailed in a Metro rail yard Wednesday after an operator ran through a stop signal and damaged the tracks, The Examiner has learned.
The derailment occurred at 12:21 p.m. at the Brentwood rail yard, according to the transit agency.
The train was being moved inside the rail yard without any passengers aboard when the operator apparently ran a red signal, said spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein. The front two wheels of the four-car train derailed, causing damage to the track and the third rail. Farbstein could not provide any damage estimates Thursday.
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 and put on paid administrative leave, as is standard after a crash, she said.
The agency notified its oversight group as required, e-mailing Tri-State Oversight Committee Chairman Eric Madison at 12:53 p.m. The TOC is monitoring Metro’s investigation of the incident but not conducting its own probe, he said.
Transit officials did not release news of the incident to the public. The Examiner learned of it from two Metro employees who asked not to be named.
Metro has recently received a string of questions and reports from the Federal Transit Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and the local oversight committee, slamming its safety practices and culture in the wake of the deadly June 22 Red Line crash.
Safety failures and accidents have continued to occur since the crash: Four track workers have been killed in three track accidents, a crash in a rail yard injured three workers, and a truck carrying 20 workers slammed into a piece of equipment on icy rail.
Most recently, a Red Line train loaded with passengers derailed outside the Farragut North station on Feb. 12, causing minor injuries to three 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 remains on administrative leave, a Metro spokesman said Thursday.
