A Metro train was traveling no more than 19 mph when it crashed into a stopped train in a rail yard and destroyed at least three rail cars, according to newly released federal documents. The cars that sustained the most damage in the November 2009 crash were all the same model, the Rohr 1000 Series. They were sandwiched in the middle of the trains, highlighting again the vulnerability of Metro’s oldest rail cars during a crash even when buffered from the brunt of the impact and traveling at slow speeds.
Metro officials have said the rail cars, which make up a quarter of the total fleet, are safe. The agency has a contract to replace the 288 rail cars, but the new cars won’t all be in service until 2016.
Metro has said it cannot mothball the remaining rail cars before the new ones arrive. So riders are continuing to travel in them daily — at speeds as much as three times that of the rail yard crash.
| How to spot a 1000 Series rail car |
| To determine which type of Metro car you are riding, look for the car number: |
| » Cars have four-digit numbers on the inside door at the end of the car and on the outsides. |
| » Numbers beginning with a 1 are 1000 Series models. Each subsequent series, e.g. 4000 or 6000, represents a newer model. |
The National Transportation Safety Board documents say that train operator Barry Campbell was finishing his shift and bringing his six-car train into the West Falls Church rail yard on Nov. 29 when he crashed into a parked six-car train as he made a required series of gradual stops. The train speed ranged from 3.5 mph to 18.9 mph.
Campbell and two cleaners in the stopped car suffered minor injuries. Campbell was later fired. He had been disciplined four other times that year, NTSB documents show.
The crash caused an estimated $9 million in damage. The rail car that hit the stopped train, a newer model 5000 Series car, had some problems: The end door was cracked, neither end door would open and “minimal” buckling occurred in the floor.
But the third car, an 1000 Series, was left with a floor so buckled that it caused the floor to pull away from the walls, according to NTSB documents. A wall cracked and a support beam bent one foot inward.
The stopped train showed a similar pattern: The front and rear cars had little damage but the middle cars, both 1000 Series cars, were destroyed with shattered windows, two sets of seats bent and a collision post knocked clear.
The NTSB declined to comment about its findings, saying that officials are still analyzing the information. It is not clear when the board will release a final report into what caused the crash and how future ones could be avoided.
The NTSB has been calling for Metro to replace the cars for years, calling them uncrashworthy. The push became even more urgent after the June 22, 2009, Red Line crash in which nine people were killed in a 1000 Series car that crumpled to a third of its original size.
After the crash, Metro moved those types of rail cars into the middle of trains. The local safety oversight group and the NTSB questioned the move, saying the agency showed no evidence it made the trains any safer.
