The Federal Transit Administration released a 45 page report Monday, citing 68 times that the Metro has run red lights between January 2012 and July 2016. News4 I-Team’s Tisha Thompson has more.
A new report from the Federal Transit Administration said Metro trains ran through stop signals 68 times in 4 ½ years.
With the finding, the FTA safety directive instructs Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to address 11 actions and speed up implementation of previously approved corrective plans.
The FTA WMATA Safety Oversight Office began looking into stop signal overruns after there were more violations in 2015 than in either of the previous two years.
During the investigation, they looked at records between Jan. 1, 2012, and July 31, 2016. The safety oversight office found several factors into the stop signal violations, including:
- Lack of train operator familiarity with mainline and yard territory,
- Train operator inattention or confusion when departing from a station or terminal or moving under zero speed commands,
- Poor or incomplete communication between the train operator and the Rail Operations Control Center regarding unusual train movements.
On Feb. 3, 2016, there was a near-miss collision with a passenger train at the Smithsonian station. WMATA has 30 days to respond to the report.
Sherri Ly, manager of media relations for WMATA said, "Metro has made significant progress in addressing this important issue as noted in the FTA report including changes to operating rules, training and signage. We will continue to work cooperatively with FTA on the corrective actions and will meet the deadlines in the safety directive."
