Federal investigators on Wednesday found “anomalies” in the Metro equipment that senses trains and transmits speed commands in the area of track near where Monday’s deadly crash occurred close to the Takoma station.
The 744-foot-long circuit was along a section of the Red Line repaired earlier this month, according to National Transportation Safety
Board member Debbie Hersman, who called it “vital” to providing and transmitting information from the control systems and the train itself, helping stop trains when they get too close.
Investigators are looking into all aspects of the crash, from train operator Jeanice McMillan’s actions that day to communications from the operations center. It appears, however, that McMillan engaged the brakes some 300 to 400 feet before impact and that the brakes had been maintained as required.
The news came as Metro’s largest union called for the transit agency to put its 1000 Series rail cars, which were criticized years ago by the NTSB as not “crash worthy,” in the center of trains, instead of the front and rear where they may crumple upon impact as they did Monday.
The crash killed nine people, including McMillan, and injured more than 70 passengers. The crash might not have been as deadly had the lead rail car not crunched down to one-third its original size.
The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 also called on the transit system to let drivers continue to run the trains manually — instead of automatically, as was done Monday — and determine what speeds “can assure safe travel.”
It is not clear how fast the Red Line train was going — and how much space it would have needed to stop — but the force caused the train to rise onto the stopped train. The impact pushed the stopped car seven feet forward, Hersman said. The speed limit in that area is 59 mph.
The electronic brake controls of the four rear rail cars on the striking train were fine, Hersman said, but the condition of the first two is not clear because they were damaged in the crash.
However, investigators reviewed maintenance records of the train’s brake system but found “no record of deferred or overdue” maintenance, nor any recurring problems. “Everything appeared to have been accomplished in a timely manner,” Hersman said.
She said the investigators had more testing to do, including how far McMillan could have seen as she rounded the curved track and how the circuit in question behaves with a train on it.
But much of the on-scene investigation is done. Metro spent the day repairing the track damaged by the impact of the crash. A portion of the Red Line reopened Wednesday, and transit officials were hoping to be able to reopen the whole line to continuous service today.
