Metro’s ability to provide safe and reliable transportation was under scrutiny Wednesday during a House committee hearing, where transit agency leaders testified on a train shortage and federal safety investigation that has hampered public transit in the nation’s capital for nearly four months.
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Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld and Board Chairman Paul C. Smedberg were among those who appeared before the House Oversight subcommittee on government operations. Comments focused on a defect that’s part of a National Transportation Safety Board probe into Metro’s 7000-series rail cars, which make up nearly 60 percent of the transit agency’s fleet.
All 748 cars have been out of service since Oct. 17 after investigators discovered the defect, which increases their risk of derailment.
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Metro in recent months has struggled through one of its most challenging periods, trying to keep the nation’s third-largest transit system operating with reduced service while battling a pandemic that recently forced enough drivers from work that Metro decreased bus service. Lawmakers said the pandemic has showed Metro’s importance to the region’s essential workers, but also exposed funding and safety problems that threaten the system.
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Metro, an independent agency that receives funding from Maryland, Virginia, the District and the federal government, has been required to provide the subcommittee with periodic reports since a series of high-profile safety incidents that included the death of a passenger in 2015.
Metro leaders have hoped for signs of a rider resurgence on the subway, but instead are staring down the prospect of a possible $500 million shortfall beginning next summer from fare losses.
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The biggest blow to Metro’s operations began Oct. 12, when a Blue Line train derailed and a subsequent NTSB investigation uncovered a mysterious defect in the wheels and axles of its most relied-upon rail cars. The rail car suspension forced Metro to cobble together enough older trains to run the 91-station system at a reduced level, frustrating riders with lengthy waits.
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The problems with the 7000 series are a major setback for a transit agency that had spent six years prioritizing system upgrades at the expense of expanding service levels. The change in focus came after the mishandling and botched response to the January 2015 electrical fire that filled a stalled Metro train with smoke outside L’Enfant Plaza, killing 61-year-old Carol Glover of Alexandria and injuring several others.
Wheel assembly on Metro rail cars had failed repeatedly, NTSB says; reduced service expected all week
As Wiedefeld nears retirement this summer, Metro finds itself where it was — struggling to regain the trust of riders.
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In prepared remarks, Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.), chairman of the subcommittee, noted the progress Wiedefeld has made during his tenure but said Metro hasn’t risen above recurring problems because of “a culture of mediocrity.”
“Mr. Wiedefeld took over [Metro] at a time when all lights were blinking red, and the reality remains that our region has a ways to go to restore confidence in Metro,” Connolly wrote.
Connolly and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) organized Wednesday’s hearing, which included testimony from David L. Mayer, chief executive of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, the regulatory agency that suspended the 7000 series cars. Metro Inspector General Geoffrey Cherrington, who launched an investigation alongside the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general, also spoke.
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Connolly said his goal during the hearing is to examine Metro’s urgent safety issues and long-term challenges while finding ways the federal government can assist the transit agency.
Lawmakers asked how Metro inspectors knew about the defect as early as 2017, but did not report the malfunction — as required — to the safety commission or Wiedefeld. The defect, which has been uncovered in nearly 50 axles, causes wheels on the Kawasaki Rail-built cars to push outward.
Inspectors general investigate Metro over not reporting rail car defects
Metro officials have said they are continuing to investigate how the problem went unreported, but say maintenance supervisors viewed the defect as an isolated malfunction covered by a warranty.
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Cherrington told the House panel that the joint inspector general office investigation backed up that assertion and that his investigators found no evidence Metro intentionally withheld information from the safety commission. He said Metro technicians didn’t view the malfunction as a safety hazard or concern.
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Metro’s warranty review protocols were disconnected from procedures that could have flagged the agency’s safety officials, Cherrington wrote in his remarks. For reasons that are under investigation, he said Kawasaki Rail did not provide Metro with reports analyzing the wheel failures after being notified of the problem.
Kawasaki Rail officials didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning. The company previously has said its cars were “confirmed to have met the technical specifications when delivered” to Metro. The company said it is cooperating with the NTSB investigation.
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Cherrington also told the House panel that Metro’s relationship with its oversight agency should be better.
“Working relationships and communications between [Metro] and the [safety commission], defined in the program standards, need improvement,” Cherrington wrote in prepared remarks.
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Transit leaders say the suspended rail cars won’t return until at least April. Metro received the safety commission’s permission in December to put the cars back into service after Metro pledged daily inspections of wheels. But the safety commission reinstated the suspension after officials learned Metro was deviating from its inspection protocols.
Metro working on plan to bring suspended cars back into service
“I want to assure you that the safety of our customers and employees is a core value at Metro,” Wiedefeld said in prepared remarks. “We understand that it has been a difficult period for those who rely on transit in the region, and we appreciate our customers who have stayed with us and thank them for their continued patience as we work to increase service as quickly as we can, as safely as we can.”
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Mayer told lawmakers the timing of the cars’ return depends on Metro.
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“It is up to Metrorail to determine the time needed to do this,” he wrote in prepared remarks. “Meanwhile, investigative work continues on the cause of the wheel movement on the axles, and this work may help inform Metrorail’s new plan.”
The NTSB is continuing to investigate the origin of the defect. Agency spokesman Keith D. Holloway said Tuesday that federal investigators had no updates on the probe.
While much of the hearing was expected to focus on the 7000-series cars, Connolly noted Metro is scheduled to begin service in the coming months on the long-delayed, nearly 11-mile extension of the Silver Line to Dulles International Airport. He also said Metro must find a solution to its lack of fare revenue if ridership doesn’t rebound.
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“Failure of [Metro] is not an option, and we can no longer afford a pervasive culture of mediocrity,” Connolly said.
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In his prepared remarks, Smedberg said Metro was in better position and condition than 2015, thanks to Wiedefeld’s leadership.
Over the past six years, Smedberg said, Metro overhauled station platforms while putting the system through a nearly year-long maintenance blitz, known as SafeTrack. Metro’s capital needs are met through annually earmarked subsidies provided by Virginia, Maryland and D.C., thanks to the approval of dedicated funding in 2018.
The Metro board has also made “equity” a key mission over the past two years, he said, cutting fares and increasing Metrobus service to help lower-income residents and service workers — all while keeping transit services operating during the pandemic.
“It is clear that we have a lot going on, and also goes without saying that Metro, and really the transit industry nationwide, is at a pivotal moment — we need to work collectively with all our stakeholders to determine what role Metro will play as we emerge from the pandemic,” Smedberg said in prepared remarks.