Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Aging cars need replacement, council member says
by C. Benjamin Ford and Janel Davis Staff Writers
by C. Benjamin Ford and Janel Davis Staff Writers
This story was corrected on June 24, 2009. An explanation of the correction is at the end of the story.
While investigators combed through the wreckage of Monday's Metro crash, a Montgomery County Council member who also served as chairman of the regional Council of Governments ripped the federal government for failing to modernize the cash-strapped rail system.
Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown, reading from a news story at a council meeting Tuesday morning, noted that the federal government — in this case the National Safety Transportation Board — had wanted to phase out the aging train cars involved in the crash, but that Metro had not heeded the cry.
"I appreciate the fact that the NTSB and the federal government said we had these recommendations, but the reality is over the years [regional governments and agencies] have worked on ways to secure adequate funding for Metro," said Knapp, who also chaired the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
"The reality is that the participant who has not stepped up to the plate is the federal government."
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority held a special board meeting Tuesday afternoon to discuss safety and security in the wake of the two-train crash that killed nine people, including a train operator, and injured more than 70 others.
Metro General Manager John Catoe said his "heart and soul" went out to the dead and injured and their families.
"My words cannot change what happened, but they can help change it from happening again," Catoe said. "Of course it was an accident, but this accident should not have happened."
The cause of the crash, the worst in the 33-year history of Metro, still was not determined. Investigators were looking at a range of possibilities, from signal relay problems that help run the automatic trains to operator error by the driver of the second train, to a combination of factors.
"Now is the time to act to find the root and the cause of this tragedy and correct it," Catoe said.
Immediately after Catoe spoke, the WMATA board went into closed executive session to discuss safety and security issues, but told reporters they expected to reconvene before 5 p.m. to take any action in public session.
The WMATA board already was scheduled to discuss $11 billion in unfunded capital improvement projects needed to make system improvements, said Metro spokeswoman Angela Gates.
A National Transportation Safety Board member pointed out that the board had recommended WMATA replace the fleet's oldest cars five years ago or retrofit it to better protect passengers in the event of a crash. The southbound train that crashed into the stopped train on the Red Line near Fort Totten station was one of the oldest models of subway cars.
"We recommended to either retrofit those cars or to phase them out of the fleet," said NTSB member Deborah Hersman at a press conference Tuesday. Metro officials "have not been able to do that and our recommendation was not addressed. So, it has been an unacceptable status."
Metro had planned to replace the aging cars with newer models, but retrofitting the cars was not shown to be feasible, spokeswoman Candace Smith said.
Metro's automated software system was designed to slow the train, but passengers reported that they did not hear the brakes engaged either by the computer or the operator, who can override the automated controls.
"They need to take a really hard look to see if the cause of this is the aging of the system, either the physical system or the computer system, or the software," said transit advocate Ben Ross, president of the Action Committee for Transit.
Alstom Signaling, which makes the relay signals that help control the trains, did not return calls for comment.
The incident signals the need not just to solve the problem that caused the crash, but to invest overall in the system, Knapp said.
The federal government still has not given a plan for an additional $150 million investment that it needs to make, Knapp said.
County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen called the crash "devastating" to the region's transportation reliability and, like Knapp, reiterated the need for more funding for the regional train system.
"This is a wake- up call to Metro," said Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park, who chairs the council's Transportation and Environment Committee. "They need to demonstrate to the region that people will be safe when they get on these trains. This is a system we all use. We're totally dependent on it."
But public transit experts said Metro and other systems are safe.
A 2008 National Safety Council study showed that subways and commuter railroads were the safest forms of transportation. There are 0.05 fatalities per 100 million passenger miles on trains compared with 0.71 fatalities in cars.
"Public transportation is one of the safest ways to travel," said Virginia Miller, a spokeswoman for the American Public Transit Association.
As word of the crash spread Monday, various agencies and emergency services within Montgomery County mobilized.
Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring received seven crash patients, all of whom were treated for "various bumps and strains" and released Monday night, said Yolanda Gaskins, a spokeswoman for Holy Cross.
Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park received five patients, one with non life-threatening injuries and four with minor injuries, said Lydia Parris, a Washington Adventist spokeswoman. All five patients have been released, Parris said.
"When something like that happens, management and the emergency room all work together to make sure we are ready for whatever comes our way," Gaskins said Tuesday. "We were all watching the news making sure that if we had additional patients we were ready."
Ronna Borenstein-Levy, a spokeswoman for Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, said two patients from the crash were taken to that hospital. One was treated and released, while a 17-year-old girl remains at the hospital in fair condition. Though far from the scene, the hospital prepared to take on more if necessary.
"We readied ourselves," she said. "We checked our bed situation, our supplies. We could've easily received more patients."
Among the dead identified by deadline were Mary Doolittle, 59, of Northwest Washington, D.C., Ana Fernandez, 40, of Hyattsville, Dennis Hawkins, 64, of Southeast Washington, D.C., Lavanda King, 23, of Northeast Washington, D.C. and train operator Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield, Va.
Staff writers Jason Tomassini and Bradford Pearson contributed to this report.
-Metro officials said they did not know Tuesday when the Red Line would resume normal operations and recommended that commuters check online at www.wmata.com for the latest updates.
-Shuttle buses are being made available to help commuters between the closed stations.
-Service on MARC's Brunswick Line, which runs parallel to the Metro line near the crash scene, was suspended Monday evening and all day Tuesday, but was expected to resume this morning, MARC officials said.
Washington Post coverage: Train Operator Apparently Hit Brakes Before Crash
Washington Post coverage: Rescuers 'Tried Everything We Could'
Correction: Councilman Michael J. Knapp was incorrectly referred to as the chairman of the Council of Governments. He's the former chairman.
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