(1) Amid its current crisis you'd hope Metro is being vigilant on other safety issues. Radio traffic during the smoking Metro Center light fixture yesterday provides doubt. It indicates Metro sent a passenger filled train to do a smoke inspection. And that's not all. (more)
(2) LISTEN: At 6:42 pm the controller asked the operator of Train 905 -- then at Metro Center -- if they saw smoke. 905 saw none. 905 was then told to do a track inspection looking for smoke between Metro Center & McPherson. No order was given to off-load passengers. (more)
(3) Train 905 (Orange Line to Vienna) arrived at McPherson & reported no smoke. No big deal. Right? Sorry, but this is the type of action by Metro's Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) that previously trapped, injured & even killed passengers. It's not supposed to occur. (more)
(4) After @NTSB's report into the 2015 L'Enfant Plaza fire that killed Carol Glover, Metro was finally forced to halt the decades long practice of sending passengers on inspections for fire or smoke. It was made official in 2017. Or so we thought. (more)
(5) In late 2019 & early 2020 @STATter911 uncovered a series of fire related rail incidents where Metro's ROCC sent passengers toward potential danger. Metro told me this shouldn't have occurred. @MetrorailSafety investigated & said the same. (more)
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(6) Finally, in March 2020, Metro went beyond the 2017 order & informed its staff that passengers were not to be aboard trains during inspections for ANY potential hazards. Seems pretty simple. But as we've learned, nothing is simple with Metro. (more) washingtonpost.com/transportation…
(7) @RailTransitOPS brings up another key issue about yesterday's smoking light. While ROCC stopped trains on the Orange/Blue/Silver lines on Metro Center's lower level, it allowed Red Line trains above to continue servicing the station. (more)
(8) According to @RailTransitOPS, Red Line trains weren't told the Orange/Blue/Silver lines were shut down at Metro Center. This likely left transferring passengers uninformed the lower level was closed & again had the potential of sending them toward danger. (more)
(9) LISTEN: But there's more. ROCC was worried enough about Metro Center smoke they had Red Line train operators shut their railcar ventilation systems (EVs) between Gallery Place & Farragut North. Yet they still opened the train doors & let passengers out at Metro Center! (more)
(10) All this adds up to what I've said for years: Metro does an awful job of handling rail emergencies. Don't just take my word. Read the reports from the monthly @MetrorailSafety meetings. (more) wmsc.gov/oversight/repo…
(11) As minor as the Metro Center smoking light seemed yesterday, it was another reminder that Metro's negligence that killed Carol Glover in 2015 could still happen again today or tomorrow. @STATter911 has asked Metro to respond. statter911.com/2020/01/12/wha…
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