US

Allegations DC Metro Ignored Safety Report Renews Calls For Train Automation

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Files

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Steve Birr Vice Reporter
Font Size:

Washington Area Metro Transit Authority (WMATA) consultants are calling on transit officials to review a 2015 safety report and implement an automated system for train operations in the wake of repeated human errors, one which risked the lives of passengers and employees.

The the metro system formerly used automatic rail operation which acted as a safeguard against operator error. Many are calling on officials to revisit the system after a recent red light violation almost resulted in a head-on collision in a tunnel, report WUSA9.

“I’d love to see Metro bring back Automatic Train Control as soon as they’re able to fix some of the more immediate, urgent safety issues,” David Alpert, founder of Greater Greater Washington, told WUSA9. “It’s better for riders and it’s better for safety.”

WMATA officials commissioned a report in 2014 looking at why train operators ran red signals, a dangerous circumstance that has caused a number of near miss tunnel collisions in 2016. The report, given to officials in April, 2015, provided recommendations to deal with operators “zoning out” while controlling a train, reports WAMU.

“Every red signal violation brings with it the potential for a catastrophic accident,” Randy Jamieson, a consultant for the report, told WAMU in July. Jamieson said WMATA officials appear to be ignoring the findings in their report. “They have not returned any of our calls.”

Consultants called for implementing a system of automatic rail operation, among other recommendations, to ensure operator fatigue does not result in more accidents. It remains unclear if WMATA officials have reviewed or used any of the recommendations included in the report.

“There is a past practice with WMATA where they hire consultants to come in and do needed work, we get the recommendations, and there is no follow up,” WMATA board member Leif Dormsjo told WAMU. “We need to know whether the recommendations are going to be accepted, rejected, or modified.”

Metro officials confirm there have been more than 65 red signal violations since 2012. There were three incidents in July alone. In February, two trains came within 200 feet of colliding after an operator blew through a red signal.

An operator put two trains of passengers at risk after having a dispute with a superior over a lunch break July 5. The operator violated a series of protocols before entering the tunnel, shutting off his radio, closing the doors of the train before receiving the proper signal and running a red stop signal.

The train approached the Glenmont Station, ran a red signal, then entered a switch, which placed it on the same track as an oncoming train. Moving at 12 miles per hour, the train almost hit two maintenance workers in the tunnel who jumped out of the way. The maintenance workers eventually got the attention of the operator who finally stopped the train.

Follow Steve on Twitter

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel