Metro Trains Continue in Manual Mode

Those hoping for a smooth ride on the rails will have to wait even longer.  That's because Metro said it's going to keep driving trains manually for the next few years.
 
The agency started manual operations as a safety precaution after the deadly Fort Totten train crash in June 2009.

WMATA deputy manager Dave Kubicek told the Washington Examiner that manual mode will continue for a number of years because the agency still needs to swap out "well over half" of the safety modules of the type that faltered in the 2009 train crash.

Kubicek told the Examiner that the only way that timeframe would be moved up would be for Metro work crews to get more access to the tracks -- meaning more delays and single-tracking.

Nine people died when a Red Line train running in automatic mode slammed into another.  The agency's safety system failed to stop the collision because of a problem with the track circuits.

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