The first passenger on the tracks @ Rhode Island was reported @ 4:16pm, approximately 30 minutes after Red Line train 122 became stuck between Rhode Island and Brookland. #wmata
At this point in time #wmata had dropped off a railcar mechanic on the disabled train and they were proceeding with a recovery procedure for the train. The self-evacuation meant the train lost its "all doors closed" indication and halted recovery.
A second passenger that self-evacuated the disabled Red Line train was reported @ 4:34pm, about 15 minutes later (~45min after train became stuck). Both train operator + #wmata railcar mechanic were involved in troubleshooting/recovery which left nobody to keep pax informed.
Two takeaways from this Red Line incident: 1) #wmata continues to struggle w/pax communications; could self-evac have been prevented? 2) the on-scene railcar mechanic w/a plan to self-recover the disabled train was overruled by ROCC/others, which potentially added incident time.
Oh dear. At ~5:40pm the disabled RD/122 train appears to have had few enough brakes engaged that it began to "roll free." The second #wmata railcar mechanic onboard reengaged brakes on the train to stop it from moving unexpectedly.
This ended up being a ~2.5-hour ordeal and ended in the 8-car 7000-series train being pulled from Rhode Island Ave all the way back to Shady Grove Yard.
Latest #wmata Silver Line update notes 17 open issues - 9 "unresolved" - with MWAA/construction, including 1 issue (cracked 3rd rail coverboard brackets) new since last month's update. The line will open no sooner than 3 months after handover from MWAA. wmata.com/about/board/me…
#wmata appendix lists all currently-open issues. Cracked concrete panels no longer on this list (which WMATA OIG issued its own report about - ggwash.org/view/78978/met…)
#wmata's "available track" metric came in better than expected in part due to Purple Line delays (shutdowns/single-tracking that would've impacted the Red Line for integration). wmata.com/about/board/me…
WMSC COO Samarasinghe is being made Acting CEO as Dr. Mayer is out on a personal leave of absence. The motion is retroactive to Feb 17th. Samarasinghe previously ran the Tri-State Oversight Committee (prior to FTA safety oversight, prior to the WMSC) #wmata
Well, folks, we've got delays. A #wmata rail supervisor is on scene and will be manually throwing the switch which trains cross over before arriving at Rosslyn towards DC. Until that happens, we're single-tracking around with 10+ minute holds.
Lisa Woodruff, a #wmata senior executive who the WMSC says broke safety protocols and instructed others to do so at the rail operations control center, is being appointed by Metro's Chief Operating Officer as his SVP for Business Process Development, overseeing 4 departments. 1/4
Woodruff was reassigned back in September, 2020, while #wmata investigated the allegations against her by the WMSC. Metro later issued a statement (wmata.com/about/news/Lit…) clearing her of direct wrongdoing (but agreed that a caustic environment at the ROCC existed) 2/4