Metro workers nearly killed doing repair work, audit says
2024-08-01T16:25:20.865ZWorkers at the Braddock Road Metro station in 2019. (Dayna Smith for The Washington Post)Metro trains have repeatedly come close to hitting roadway workers over the past few years because of weak oversight or poor training, an audit from the safety commission that oversees the D.C. area transit system said in a report this week.One work crew narrowly escaped in April 2023 after feeling the wind of an oncoming train that was going more than three times as fast as required when passing roadway workers on the Yellow Line. In June 2022, a contractor who was supposed to be flagging Blue Line trains that a crew was inspecting was instead sitting in a platform shelter when a train almost hit the workers. Metro police officers doing a training exercise at Potomac Avenue entered a tunnel without permission, putting them in the path of an oncoming train.“Multiple times over the past few years, workers have had to rush out of the way of oncoming trains to avoid being hit,” said Max Smith, a spokesman for the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, the independent watchdog for Metro. “We’re glad that they’ve been near misses and not collisions.”There are often not enough lookouts or flaggers to coordinate, and radio communications are inconsistent, the audit found, leading to repeated confusion over whether it is safe to be on the tracks. Metro police officers routinely go on the tracks without the proper training in safety, the audit found, and workers regularly forgo proper safety equipment such as helmets and glasses. A review of two months of data by safety commission staff found that trains were going too fast in work zones about 20 percent of the time.The audit follows an April report from the commission faulting Metro’s safety testing for train cars. Created in 2017 by Congress, the commission has repeatedly warned that Metro cuts corners on safety rules. The transit system’s complicated bureaucratic structure, involving multiple governments, makes oversight and accountability particularly difficult.Two top leaders resigned in 2022 after training lapses came to light. Randy Clarke, who now leads Metro, took over after several of the incidents highlighted in the report occurred. But problems have continued under Clarke’s tenure, the audit says.In one incident in April 2023, a rail supervisor was seriously injured when he fell onto the tracks while trying to climb down from a train’s back cab. He had been inside the cab with a train operator for about half an hour as they traveled along the Green Line, locking out another operator. According to the audit, the supervisor climbed out the back to avoid being seen. He first claimed he fell off the platform, then that he was on the back of the train because he was trying to fix a broken barrier.Smith could not say what was going on inside the cab. At a meeting in December, members of the safety commission expressed concern that there were bigger disciplinary issues going on in that situation, but concluded it was separate from their review of safety for roadway workers.Between 2005 and 2010, eight Metrorail employees were struck and killed by trains. It hasn’t happened since, and the commission credits Metro with implementing a roadway safety program in response. In 2020, Metro implemented more safety measures and training in response to repeated close calls.But over time, the audit says, some of those procedures are being ignored. Employees aren’t always getting trained on the rules, or they get training on outdated ones. Employee manuals are not being accurately translated for roadway workers who don’t speak English, the audit adds; some rules were translated in Spanish to give the opposite of the intended meaning.“These are systemic issues that need to be addressed,” Smith said.Metro officials have 30 days to respond to the audit with plans for dealing with the problems. Metro spokesman Jordan Pascale said agency leaders “commit to taking appropriate action” and “value our collaboration with the Safety Commission to maintain a safe, reliable transit system.”
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Metro trains have repeatedly come close to hitting roadway workers over the past few years because of weak oversight or poor training, an audit from the safety commission that oversees the D.C. area transit system said in a report this week.
One work crew narrowly escaped in April 2023 after feeling the wind of an oncoming train that was going more than three times as fast as required when passing roadway workers on the Yellow Line. In June 2022, a contractor who was supposed to be flagging Blue Line trains that a crew was inspecting was instead sitting in a platform shelter when a train almost hit the workers. Metro police officers doing a training exercise at Potomac Avenue entered a tunnel without permission, putting them in the path of an oncoming train.
“Multiple times over the past few years, workers have had to rush out of the way of oncoming trains to avoid being hit,” said Max Smith, a spokesman for the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, the independent watchdog for Metro. “We’re glad that they’ve been near misses and not collisions.”
There are often not enough lookouts or flaggers to coordinate, and radio communications are inconsistent, the audit found, leading to repeated confusion over whether it is safe to be on the tracks. Metro police officers routinely go on the tracks without the proper training in safety, the audit found, and workers regularly forgo proper safety equipment such as helmets and glasses. A review of two months of data by safety commission staff found that trains were going too fast in work zones about 20 percent of the time.
The audit follows an April report from the commission faulting Metro’s safety testing for train cars. Created in 2017 by Congress, the commission has repeatedly warned that Metro cuts corners on safety rules. The transit system’s complicated bureaucratic structure, involving multiple governments, makes oversight and accountability particularly difficult.
Two top leaders resigned in 2022 after training lapses came to light. Randy Clarke, who now leads Metro, took over after several of the incidents highlighted in the report occurred. But problems have continued under Clarke’s tenure, the audit says.
In one incident in April 2023, a rail supervisor was seriously injured when he fell onto the tracks while trying to climb down from a train’s back cab. He had been inside the cab with a train operator for about half an hour as they traveled along the Green Line, locking out another operator. According to the audit, the supervisor climbed out the back to avoid being seen. He first claimed he fell off the platform, then that he was on the back of the train because he was trying to fix a broken barrier.
Smith could not say what was going on inside the cab. At a meeting in December, members of the safety commission expressed concern that there were bigger disciplinary issues going on in that situation, but concluded it was separate from their review of safety for roadway workers.
Between 2005 and 2010, eight Metrorail employees were struck and killed by trains. It hasn’t happened since, and the commission credits Metro with implementing a roadway safety program in response. In 2020, Metro implemented more safety measures and training in response to repeated close calls.
But over time, the audit says, some of those procedures are being ignored. Employees aren’t always getting trained on the rules, or they get training on outdated ones. Employee manuals are not being accurately translated for roadway workers who don’t speak English, the audit adds; some rules were translated in Spanish to give the opposite of the intended meaning.
“These are systemic issues that need to be addressed,” Smith said.
Metro officials have 30 days to respond to the audit with plans for dealing with the problems. Metro spokesman Jordan Pascale said agency leaders “commit to taking appropriate action” and “value our collaboration with the Safety Commission to maintain a safe, reliable transit system.”
