Metro will bring back 64 of its 7000-series rail cars over the summer while transit engineers work toward automating daily wheel inspections to restore 60 percent of its fleet.
The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, an independent oversight agency, revealed details Tuesday of Metro’s plans for restoring nearly 750 of the transit agency’s 1,300 rail cars. Their absence since October, when a federal safety investigation uncovered a wheel defect, has led to a seven-month train shortage and reduced service.
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The first part of Metro’s two-part restoration plan last week provided the agency with good news amid a turbulent stretch as Metro continues to have safety failures. A recertification lapse involving about half of the rail operators resulted in the resignations of General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld and Metro Chief Operating Officer Joseph Leader on May 16.
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Metro officials are hoping to fix the problems while eyeing new leadership later this summer in hopes it will improve the agency’s safety culture. No timeline was provided for when Metro would return the bulk of its idled cars.
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At its monthly meeting Tuesday, safety commission chief executive David L. Mayer said Metro must stick to the plan it submitted to the commission last week to get the 7000-series cars back into service. The commission has approved a plan that would allow Metro to bring back cars that have their wheel sets inspected each day to monitor for a rare defect that widens the distance between wheels on their axle.
“Metrorail is required to follow all aspects of its plan, including the frequent back-to-back inspections in Metrorail shops, careful control of the rail cars, determining the required number of personnel across the Metrorail organization to execute the plan properly, training all these personnel and the necessary [technology] changes to carry out this plan,” he told commissioners.
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The wheel problem with the Kawasaki Rail-built cars — the last of which was delivered in 2020 — has been discovered in inspections nearly 50 times over four years. It came to light during a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into an Oct. 12 derailment, where investigators found that the wheels of one car had moved two inches apart.
The defect progresses slowly, opening the way for Metro to put the series back to work as long as the transit agency proves to the safety commission that it can do so safely. In December, transit officials received permission to bring back the cars, but the safety commission found that the agency was deviating from the plan it submitted and reimposed the suspension after about two weeks.
Metro said at the time that it couldn’t get precise-enough measurements with its tools. After months of research and trials, it put together a new process of screening cars that uses digital instruments, while limiting the number of cars it is initially putting back into service to 64 — or eight eight-car trains.
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The primary measurement tool that inspectors will be using this time includes a digital readout that makes it easier for technicians to determine whether wheels have shifted.
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“The only allowed movement is 0.036 inches beyond the baseline measurement for that wheel set,” safety commission Chief Operating Officer Sharmila Samarasinghe said.
The limit includes an allowance for weather, she said, which can cause tiny contractions of the metal.
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“We definitely are talking about very small numbers,” Mayer said. “And that’s been one of the reasons that Metro has come back in this plan to use digital instrumentation that should be more accurate, more precise.”
Metro’s second attempt at a manual screening process includes separate teams responsible for the inspections and the data entry, oversight and quality-control checks, safety commission officials said. Inspections will be conducted each day before a 7000-series car can carry passengers. Metro has safeguards to ensure that a rail car won’t leave the yard until it has passed inspection.
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Eight trains is all Metro officials say they can handle when considering staffing and time required to conduct the daily manual inspections. The rail network, currently operating with trains of six cars from older series, will see an immediate capacity boost with each returning 7000-series train. The 7000s run eight cars and hold more people.
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Metro still needs time to get its inspection process set before the first trains return. According to the safety commission, Metro plans to bring eight cars back a day over eight days.
“Metro is working to implement our plan, which includes training our inspectors, modifying and testing our electronic system of records and conducting a number of reviews to assure readiness,” Metro spokesman Ian Jannetta said in a statement. “We anticipate that this process will take a minimum of two weeks to complete. While the use of the digital dial gauges greatly enhances the accuracy and precision of our measurements, it does not reduce the time required to complete the manual inspections.”
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The agency is simultaneously working to complete installation of three wayside inspection machines that could automate the daily screening process and allow for the return of all 748 suspended rail cars. If testing proves successful, Mayer said, Metro will have to again provide a detailed plan on how the screening process will shift to automation before it can start.
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Safety commission officials also updated commissioners on Metro’s progress in recertifying about 250 train operators.
On May 15, top Metro officials said they had discovered that about half of the rail operators had not taken refresher training courses and tests that are required for recertification. Transit officials said they had not kept track of waivers the agency began handing out at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Safety commission officials said Metro canceled its training program — despite the agency being cited by regulatory agencies for inadequate refresher training since at least 2015.
Metro pulled 72 operators from work for recertification, and Mayer said the agency is required to submit a plan early next week that will include how the transit agency is getting operators trained and tested.
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“This is an issue of management and scheduling, assigning and designating the resources needed to carry out the safety training and certification,” he said. “It’s not an issue caused by the operators themselves.”
Commissioners voiced worries about operator fatigue, as the ranks will be stretched thin over the next few months while people are pulled out of work for training. Jannetta said the transit agency is closely monitoring fatigue issues and is averaging more than five recertifications a day.
The safety commission last week issued an order limiting when and where controllers could shut down and turn on track power for maintenance or emergencies. The commission has repeatedly cited Metro for not following such safety procedures, which it says put workers who might be on the tracks at risk. Violations to procedures occurred even after the agency created a “power desk” in its rail operations control center this year charged with safely handling power to the electrified third rail.
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“These events provide further evidence that elements of Metrorail have a culture that accepts noncompliance with written operational rules, instructions and manuals to conduct maintenance, repair and rehabilitation,” Mayer said.
The commission’s order limits power removal and restoration to a few places until Metro shows the commission how it will ensure that the guidelines are followed. Additional lapses were discovered in April and this month.
Jannetta said Metro is “aggressively implementing additional corrective actions as required by the order.”