The Federal Transit Administration, citing Metro’s botched response to Thursday’s fire at the Federal Center SW station, on Saturday issued a series of emergency directives to the transit agency and threatened to shut down all or parts of the nation’s second-busiest subway unless it took “urgent action” to ensure passenger safety.
In its toughest measures since it took over direct safety oversight of Metro in October, the FTA ordered daily inspections for “hot spots” and water leaks along tracks, as well as reductions in number of railcars and slower speeds for trains so less power is used. It also demanded a “safety standdown” so that all staff can be retrained in proper procedures. The training must be completed by May 16.
The four-page directivelambastes Metro employees for placing a higher priority on keeping trains running than on safety, especially in what it called their “slow and inadequate” response to two smoke and fire events Thursday at Federal Center SW.
In the first incident Thursday morning, the FTA said, a third rail insulator exploded, significantly damaging the track and spraying “fiery metal and ceramic projectiles” onto the station platform. According to the FTA, the operations supervisor on duty conducted only a “cursory inspection before ordering the damaged track back into service.”
The dramatic explosion was captured on video.
The FTA specifically faulted controllers in Metro’s often-criticized Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) for rejecting requests from both maintenance personnel and inspectors to shut down power along the track for inspection after the fire. The controllers cut the power only after a second smoke event in the same station later that day.
In the meantime, the FTA said, passenger trains “continued to operate across this potentially dangerous track without interruption.”
The second incident was caused by debris cluttered around the electrified third rail. The smoke prompted the evacuation of Federal Center and the suspension of service on portions of three lines.