Federal safety investigators exposed discrepancies between Metro’s policies and practices that may have led to a safety breakdown causing the June 22 train crash, as well as a series of smaller but still deadly accidents in the subsequent eight months.

“They talk about a safety culture, but based on their testimony, there is no safety culture,” Kenneth Hawkins, brother of Dennis Hawkins, who was killed in the crash, told The Examiner after the first of three days of hearings ended.