Citing this week’s fire on the Metro, the the Federal Transit Administration issued emergency measures and could shut down the system.
The Washington Post reported the FTA ordered daily testing for “hot spots” along Metro tracks, reductions in electrical power usage and new measures against water leaks in tunnels.
The FTA called the response to Thursday’s fire in Federal Center SW “slow and inadequate” and ordered a safety stand-down to retrain staff in safety procedures.
According to the report, the FTA feels Metro improperly prioritized keeping trains running Thursday over passenger safety.
FTA said a Metro operations supervisor briefly investigated a third rail insulator that exploded Thursday and then ordered it to be put back into use. The systems control center denied permission for maintenance workers to shut down the track in order to remove electrical power from the third rail to properly inspect it, the report said.
Due to that poor response, the FTA ordered Metro to do a “safety stand-down” on or before May 16 to train employees.
Metro recently announced a 10-month long repair schedule that will dramatically reduce service in certain parts of the area. The “SafeTrack” program seeks to condense three years worth of repairs into on year and begins in June.
According to the Post report, the federal government was not impressed. The agency thinks more needs to be done.
