In the two years since the deadly Red Line crash outside Metro’s Fort Totten train station, some things have changed, while others are still the same — or a work in progress. Here’s where they stand:
» Board of directors
Only four board members who served during the crash are still on the now-14-member board. In the last six months, eight have left — or have announced plans to leave the transit agency — as part of the largest turnover ever at the agency. (Two slots remain vacant.) Meanwhile, the board is ceding power over many issues to the general manager, opting to focus on policy issues, not day-to-day management.
» Safety staff
Metro has a new safety officer who reports directly to the general manager, and the safety staff has more than doubled from 20 to 59 employees, according to the Federal Transit Administration.
» Track worker safety
After the deaths of four track workers within seven months following the crash, Metro updated its rules for track safety. All 4,300 employees who access the track system have been retrained, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said, and all new employees are trained when hired.
» Train safety
Metro is still running trains in manual mode as a safety precaution, and officials say it will be “years” before it can return to automatic operations, which are generally smoother and more efficient. Metro has developed a testing device to find in real time the type of track circuit malfunctions that led to the deadly crash. They are still working to swap out all the equipment, as ordered by the National Transportation Safety Board, and recently announced plans to shut down more stations on weekends to complete the work.
» Rohr 1000 series trains
The style of rail car that crushed to less than a third of its size in the crash is still being used across the system, despite repeated warnings from the NTSB that they aren’t crashworthy. Metro has ordered replacements but they won’t all arrive until 2016.
» Federal safety regulations
A push to create federal safety regulations over Metro and the nation’s other subway systems stalled in Congress. The agencies do not face federal safety standards the way that airlines and even commuter trains do.
» Legal challenges
Some of the victims’ families are suing Metro and the equipment manufacturers over the crash, but the case has been pushed back until February 2012. Joseph Cammarata, who represents the family of Dennis Hawkins, said Metro and the manufacturers are fighting over who is to blame. But he said Metro should step up and settle the case, then work out who pays what. “From where I sit, this is not complicated. You have a train that rear-ended a stopped train at a station,” he said. “That’s not supposed to happen.” – Kytja Weir
