For the past several years the metro rail servicing Washington D.C. and parts of Maryland and Northern Virginia has been in a crisis. But despite several high profile safety related incidents, including accidents which cost human life, authorities say that Metro still has a lot to learn and improve.
According to a report, released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Capital region’s mass transit train system suffers from various serious problems including aging infrastructure and inadequate emergency response protocols. These problems have led to more than a dozen safety incidents over the past several years, including a 2009 Metro collision which caused multiple casualties.
The report, which took a year to complete, was commissioned as a result of an incident in January 2015 in which a Metro train tunnel filled with smoke, injuring over 90 people and killing one. The resulting investigation, on which the report was based, found that the accident was the result of prolonged negligence of maintenance and inspection.
In addition to criticizing Metro, the report also called Washington D.C.’s emergency response systems into question. Specifically, the report said that the Capital’s fire and EMT services were not prepared to respond to the kind of emergency that ultimately took the life of the Metro rider during the 2015 smoke incident.
Though the report condemned many of Metro’s practices, there was one bright spot. The NTSB report voiced a sense of optimism that Metro’s new leadership seems to be taking the organization in a new direction and making tough decisions which are meant to improve Metro. During the May 4th meeting, during which the report’s finding were unveiled, top Metro officials, including its new general manager Paul J. Widefeld, were in attendance.
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