Turns out when nature calls some Metro employees are answering the urge in nature, sort of.
According to blog Unsuck Metro DC, a recent inspector general report shows that employees have been using some sections of track as their personal toilet.
Now don’t expect to see your train operator drop trou the next time you’re waiting on a platform. The report said that offenders are using pocket tracks, areas just beyond station platforms where trains can park or reverse direction.
But apparently the blame can’t be placed on the employees. The report stated, “This safety and health hazard is the result of inadequate time being allowed at the end of the line for train operators to have bathroom breaks.”
But as WTOP reported, using the tracks as a port-a-john isn’t just unsanitary, it’s potentially causing safety issues. And we’re not talking about accidentally “touching” the third rail.
“This practice causes delays in performing maintenance inspections on some automatic train control (ATC) equipment,” the report read.
The issue there is that problems with Metro’s ATC system were cited as the main cause of 2009’s multi-fatal Red Line crash.
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The inspector general recommended in the report that Metro review, “the schedules of train operators to ensure that there are adequate allowances for bathroom and other personal breaks at the end of the line.”
But Metro spokesperson Lisa Farbstein told WTOP, “We have addressed (the issue). A notice was distributed.”
