Federal safety investigators plan to issue a final report on the cause of the deadly June 22 Metro wreck just over 13 months after two trains crashed on the Red Line.
The National Transportation Safety Board had pledged to present its findings by the one-year anniversary of the crash near Fort Totten that killed nine and injured dozens more. But the board announced Thursday that it would issue the report at a July 27 board meeting instead.
NTSB’s other Metro cases » Nov. 29, West Falls Church rail yard crash injured three workers and caused more than $9 million in damage to rail cars: The NTSB found no problems with the trains or the safety system and is looking at the operator’s performance and the crashworthiness of Metro’s oldest rail cars, two of which were totaled even though they were in the middle of the train and the impact speed was estimated at less than 15 mph.
» Jan. 26, two track workers were killed by a maintenance vehicle backing up near the Rockville station: The NTSB is still looking into Metro’s policies on protecting and training its track workers.
» Feb. 12, Red Line train loaded with passengers derailed outside the Farragut North station, causing three minor injuries: The NTSB has found no problems with the train’s braking or train control system but is focusing on Metro’s operating procedures and the train operator, who was fired.
It also gave updates on its three other ongoing Metro investigations, a record number of concurrent cases for a single transit agency.
But the Fort Totten report — and its timing — will pose the most major repercussions for Metro. Not only could the board’s recommendations affect Metro’s operations and bottom line, but they also would come after the June 30 deadline for the agency to approve its fiscal 2011 budget and a six-year capital spending plan that would pay for any recommended safety improvements.
Metro has $30 million as a place holder in its capital budget proposal. Past recommendations have clocked in with much higher price tags, though.
The independent NTSB already has issued some recommendations in the wake of the crash, such as running Metro trains in manual mode and creating a real-time way of finding flaws in the circuits that control the safety system. Metro is still working on such a system with a contractor.
But the final report is expected to state the probable cause of why the transit system’s automatic train safety system failed to stop the trains from getting too close. It also could place tough and expensive demands on the transit agency.
The NTSB does not have any regulatory teeth to force Metro to follow its recommendations, though. For years, it has told Metro to get rid of its oldest rail cars — which crumpled as predicted during the June 22 crash — but the transit agency said it couldn’t afford to replace a quarter of its rail car fleet at $3 million per car.
However, the recent attention on Metro’s faltering safety record will make such suggestions harder to ignore, as Congress has tied $150 million in annual aid to safety improvements.
