Post: Metro Knew It Needed Upgrade to Handle Smoke Emergencies

Metro knew it needed to upgrade computer software that handles smoke emergencies before the Jan. 12 at L’Enfant Plaza in which a woman died and several people were hospitalized, The Washington Post reported.

The upgrades would make it easier for Metro's control center to pinpoint smoke in the system and coordinate ventilation fans, The Post reported.

Metro says the current software works properly and upgrades must be funded by local jurisdictions.

Metro responded to the Post with a letter to the editor, saying, "WMATA is working to improve training and operating procedures with respect to the ventilation."

Read the entire letter:

February 17, 2015

Dear Editor:

WMATA has passed the halfway mark and has continued to swiftly advance many upgrades as part of our multiyear rebuilding program to make the system safer and more reliable. While planned upgrades to software may indeed be accelerated as part of Metro’s self-assessment of action items in the wake of the L’Enfant incident, it’s important to distinguish between modernization and perceived deficiencies.

The software upgrade project referenced by the Post in an article on February 17th is a replacement initiative contemplated as part of a larger program of continuous improvements to bring the rail system to 21st century technology standards. Put simply, it's not unlike smartphone owners moving up a generation -- more evolutionary than revolutionary. The upgrade will not automate human interfaces.

Metro riders should know that WMATA is working to improve training and operating procedures with respect to ventilation, and that the ventilation software system currently in place does provide control center (remote) operation and indicators of the need for ventilation as intended.

Continuous safety improvements require continuous capital funding to ensure the system has new, improved, state-of- the-art features that add more layers of safety and reliability. Planned capital investments that would continue to pay for these improvements are currently being considered by the jurisdictions that support Metro in the national capital region.

Sincerely,
Jack Requa
Interim General Manager
And Chief Executive Officer

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