The Washington Post reported online Tuesday evening that the Metro controls designed to detect the locations of trains have malfunctioned across the rail system, suggesting the potential of "widespread" failures.
The inability of a track circuit to detect a stopped train on the Metro Red Line has been widely linked to last month's collision near Fort Totten that killed 9 people and injured 70 others. Metro rail chief Dave Kubicek acknowledged "anomalies" to the Post in six other track circuits but characterized them as not being as severe as last month's Red Line failure.
Metro later issued a statement blasting the tone of the Washington Post online article, declaring the system "safe" and stating the Post's claim of widespread issues with the rail system circuits was "a gross exaggeration."
The Post's report is something of a confidence shaker though since Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. had stated said publicly as recently as last week that the agency had already inspected all the circuits and not found any additional problems. The already low credibility of Metro management just seems to be sinking further.______________________Labels: d.c. metro, fort totten, red line, transportation, washington d.c. area
