Metro had another near-miss early Thursday morning, when a crew of track workers was working on some Red Line tracks near Silver Spring.
The incident happened around 4:20 a.m. The workers were not hit, said spokesman Dan Stessel, as the equipment on the tracks stopped several hundred feet from the crew.
Sensors on the track noticed the workers and central command was able to shut down the traffic on the tracks, he said.
But he said the agency is investigating why the workers were on active tracks.
Metro has had several high profile near misses of track workers, including one involving an independent safety group in Dec. 2009 whose members had to jump out of the way of a train. The safety group was on the tracks that day to assess how safe Metro was keeping its track workers.
Metro has had reason to worry. Four track workers were killed in three incidents in 2009 and 2010. The agency has been working on improving its safety protocols on the track system, including creating new training programs begun last year.
