The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released the final report from its investigation of the October 2021 Metro derailment, and NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy criticized the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for not taking quicker action to correct a problem that caused a train car to slip off the tracks.
“We’re lucky, absolutely lucky, that this didn’t end up in a tragedy,” Homendy said. She went on to blast a "poor safety culture" at Metro, citing decades of problems and past fatal incidents. She also said that she would ride Metro, and commended the agency's General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke for taking this derailment seriously. Clarke joined Metro in 2022.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) began receiving 7000-series cars while a study into wheel migration was underway, Homendy said. After receiving more than 400 railcars, the agency adopted a new specification that required wheels to be fitted onto axles using more pressure.
“Instead of replacing wheelsets, as they’re doing today, they chose to leave 66% with old spec, including the railcar that derailed in Northern Virginia,” Homendy said.
"We found that one department within WMATA was aware of wheel migration in its railcar fleet and attempted to mitigate the associated safety risks, but the department did not conduct a trend analysis to monitor the incidence of wheel migration or how effective its mitigations were," the NTSB report summary said.
When sharing details about the investigation’s findings on Thursday, the NTSB slammed Metro for poor safety culture and repeated safety missteps.
Metro wants Kawasaki to pay for all costs to replace wheelsets on hundreds of 7000-series railcars. Repressing the wheels on 748 train cars is estimated to cost $55 million.
Kawasaki said they pressed the wheels based on Metro's specifications, and claims Metro failed to notify the manufacturer of changes to the wheel specifications that were made before the first 7000-series cars were delivered.
"As expected, the NTSB’s conclusions align with our own findings and confirm that Kawasaki met the design and mounting specifications established by WMATA for the 7000 series wheelsets. While we understand the budget crisis that WMATA is facing, any suggestion that Kawasaki should absorb the cost of WMATA’s own failures regarding the wheelsets of the 7000 series trains is not rooted in reality," the company said.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/loca ... P3_Pxiflkg
“We’re lucky, absolutely lucky, that this didn’t end up in a tragedy,” Homendy said. She went on to blast a "poor safety culture" at Metro, citing decades of problems and past fatal incidents. She also said that she would ride Metro, and commended the agency's General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke for taking this derailment seriously. Clarke joined Metro in 2022.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) began receiving 7000-series cars while a study into wheel migration was underway, Homendy said. After receiving more than 400 railcars, the agency adopted a new specification that required wheels to be fitted onto axles using more pressure.
“Instead of replacing wheelsets, as they’re doing today, they chose to leave 66% with old spec, including the railcar that derailed in Northern Virginia,” Homendy said.
"We found that one department within WMATA was aware of wheel migration in its railcar fleet and attempted to mitigate the associated safety risks, but the department did not conduct a trend analysis to monitor the incidence of wheel migration or how effective its mitigations were," the NTSB report summary said.
When sharing details about the investigation’s findings on Thursday, the NTSB slammed Metro for poor safety culture and repeated safety missteps.
Metro wants Kawasaki to pay for all costs to replace wheelsets on hundreds of 7000-series railcars. Repressing the wheels on 748 train cars is estimated to cost $55 million.
Kawasaki said they pressed the wheels based on Metro's specifications, and claims Metro failed to notify the manufacturer of changes to the wheel specifications that were made before the first 7000-series cars were delivered.
"As expected, the NTSB’s conclusions align with our own findings and confirm that Kawasaki met the design and mounting specifications established by WMATA for the 7000 series wheelsets. While we understand the budget crisis that WMATA is facing, any suggestion that Kawasaki should absorb the cost of WMATA’s own failures regarding the wheelsets of the 7000 series trains is not rooted in reality," the company said.
https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/loca ... P3_Pxiflkg
