More weekend closures within the Metrorail system may be necessary as SafeTrack repairs continue, the head of the agency said Wednesday.
“Safety trumps service, now more than ever at Metro. The SafeTrack program is intended to make our tracks safe and reliable, and I have reinstructed the team to ensure we are addressing every issue out there ..." Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in a statement.
"I will continue to notify our riders of any service changes as quickly as possible, but we are not backing off of safety over service," he continued.
The additional closures would give crews more time to inspect and repair crossovers, the areas where trains move from one set of tracks to another.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Wiedefeld likened the additional repair work to what happens during a roof repair.
"We know we've had problems with the roof and now that we started to peel it away, we are finding more and more problems, and it's something you have to deal with," he said.
The Metrorail system has about 65 crossovers, aka interlockings. Six areas have been identified as needing extra work.
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A Metro train derailed July 29 in Northern Virginia, near the East Falls Church station, injuring one man and disrupting Metrorail service for days.
The derailment occurred because of deteriorating track conditions, Metro said. Two rails on which the trains run were aligned too far from each other, as a result of deteriorating rail ties, the Metro safety department said.
Stay with News4 for more details on this developing story.
