The day after Metro ordered special safety meetings because its vehicles were running red lights on its tracks, another incident occurred, The Washington Examiner has learned. A train at the Shady Grove rail yard ran through a red light at 5:30 a.m. Friday, Metro confirmed. The train had no passengers aboard it and no other trains were in the area, but it was the third red-light violation within two weeks.
On Thursday, the transit agency ordered a “safety stand-down,” meaning all train operators and supervisors had to come together to review the rules and procedures to stop more red-light running.
“The efforts in the rail yards continue,” Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.
Metro’s independent safety oversight group, the Tri-State Oversight Committee, said it had been notified of the safety violations. It plans to discuss them with Metro officials Tuesday in a meeting that already had been scheduled, TOC Vice Chairman James Benton said.
It’s not clear how often such violations occur, but Benton said the recent red light signal violations were the first Metro has told the safety oversight group about since he joined the TOC in July.
The severity of a red-signal violation depends on how far the train goes past the signal, said TOC member Eric Madison, and what else is nearby. He compared it with running a red light at a busy intersection during rush hour or doing the same thing on a rural road.
No one was hurt in the three incidents and all occurred in rail yards, not on main tracks.
But Metro has had trouble with such events. In February 2010, a train operator ran a red signal outside the Farragut North station. The train automatically derailed to save it from going into incoming traffic, stranding some 300 passengers in the tunnel and injuring three of them.
Still, Benton said Metro officials are taking safety incidents more seriously now.
“They’re taking this without brushing anything under the rug,” Benton said.
Metro plans to continue to conduct safety briefing sessions and increase management in the rail yards, Taubenkibel said. “Safety requires constant vigilance.”
