A team of independent track safety inspectors was nearly hit by a train running full speed last month when they were finally granted access to see if Metro was following its own safety rules, according to a new report.
The Tri-State Oversight Committee, charged with monitoring the safety of the transit agency, said in a report posted late Wednesday that committee members “observed serious violations” of Metro’s rules and procedures and believes the agency’s track safety program is “not effective as it is currently, written, applied and enforced.”
No one was injured in the near-miss incident, but the report said the oversight inspectors and their Metro escorts were “forced to quickly scramble out of the way to avoid being struck by the train.”
In addition to the near-miss, the team observed “multiple instances” of trains traveling faster than allowed past workers standing along the tracks.
The track workers themselves were observed giving incorrect hand signals to train operators multiple times, the report also said. Inspectors also observed track workers with their backs to passing trains.
The report comes after a lengthy struggle between the transit agency and the oversight committee over the inspectors’ push to inspect the tracks. The agency’s chief safety officer had denied them access to live tracks in the spring, saying it was too dangerous. The two sides continued to battle over access for months.
In the interim, two Metro employees were killed in separate track accidents.
The committee finally won their first access to working train tracks in December and conducted at least two rounds of inspections. In both cases, the transit agency had advance warning of the visits.
Metro said Wednesday evening that it is investigating the near-miss. “We regret that the incident took place. Fortunately, nobody was hurt,” the agency said in a statement. Metro also said it is “moving aggressively” to implement safety recommendations by the oversight committee.
The committee’s report depicted widespread dysfunction within Metro’s track safety system. It found that track workers and train operators have an antagonistic relationship, with train operators retaliating against those workers who report speeding trains.
Meanwhile, the team observed tripping hazards such as extra wood railway ties and bolts littering the tracks because the maintenance and inspection crews are not responsible for removing debris. And TOC said the safety class offered to those who will work on the tracks does not teach the agency’s own safety rules and procedures.
