A part of the track circuit that lost contact with a Metro train moments before it slammed into an idling train last week had been replaced five days earlier and “periodically lost its ability to detect trains” after the repair, federal investigators said Wednesday.
Records reviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that Metro engineers replaced part of the track circuit June 17, five days before the crash between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations that killed nine and injured more than 70 riders. It was the worst accident in Metrorail’s 33-year history.
The circuit, which helps keep track of trains on the rail system, is emerging as the most likely culprit in the crash.
Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said her agency conducted routine tests on the replacement part after installing it June 17.
“It came back clean,” she said.
So what went wrong?
“We don’t know,” NTSB spokeswoman Bridget Serchak told The Examiner. “That’s what we’re looking at.”
Also on Wednesday, The Cochran Firm filed a lawsuit on the behalf of the family of Veronica Dubose, a 29-year-old mother of two who was killed in the crash. The lawsuit not only targets Metro in its demand for $25 million, but also Alstom Signaling Inc., one of the companies that NTSB officials said contributed components to the failed circuit. NTSB said it was still unclear whether Alstom products had not worked correctly in the circuit.
Boston officials called Metro to report that the Boston subway system had suffered similar signaling troubles with Alstom products.
Calls to Alstom on Wednesday were not returned.
The replacing of the circuit and the possibility that Metro knew it had problems before the crash “raises the culpability of Metro and anyone else involved in working with it,” Cochran attorney Stephen Annand told The Examiner.
Metro is under increasing pressure as the evidence mounts that the deadly crash may have been caused by equipment failure. In 2006, federal regulators warned Metro officials that many of their cars were out of date and wouldn’t hold up in a crash or collision. Metro clung to the so-called Series 1000 cars. The passengers killed June 22 were all riding in a Series 1000 car, which crumpled as it rear-ended the stationary train.
Metro is under increasing pressure as the evidence mounts that the deadly crash may have been caused by equipment failure. In 2006, federal regulators warned Metro officials that many of their cars were out of date and wouldn’t hold up in a crash or collision. Metro clung to the so-called Series 1000 cars. The passengers killed June 22 were all riding in a Series 1000 car, which crumpled as it rear-ended the stationary train.
The NTSB news release Wednesday focused on the sensor part. “[Metro] reported to the NTSB that the track circuit periodically lost its ability to detect trains after June 17th,” the date it was replaced, the NTSB said.
That finding came after two weeks of intense, often overnight tests of the city’s Red Line. Federal officials said last week that Metro’s computer system was “losing track” of trains.
The evidence shows that train operator Jeanice McMillan applied her train’s brakes about 425 feet away from the stopped train. McMillan, 42, was one of those killed in the crash. She was buried Wednesday in her hometown of Buffalo, N.Y.
