Trains.com

DC Metro Collision

15323 views
125 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • 8,156 posts
Posted by henry6 on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 8:31 PM

Computers...they are employed because they are foolproof, don't take coffee and lunch breaks, don't take vacations, don't need health insurance, don't need social security and pension benefits, and don't pick up a pay check.  But are they properly fed and cared for?  .  I have been waiting for such a catastrophic meltdown to see what happens next.  Initially here, talk was to look at the train...now I see they are looking at the main computer back at the ranch.  I feel we are going into something big...bigger than texting and cell phone misuse.  Stay tuned.

RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 7:55 PM

Does the "automatic control" make sure the brakes work?

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: At the Crossroads of the West
  • 11,013 posts
Posted by Deggesty on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 7:38 PM

According to Trains Newswire, the operator attempted to stop the train by using the emergency brake.

Johnny

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:33 PM

Now they are reporting that the train that struck the standing train was under automatic control.

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 5:12 PM

penncentral2002

 At first, when I saw the photos, I thought that the collision happened in Silver Spring, MD since it looked like Silver Spring where CSX tracks are on each side of the Metro tracks - the Red Line runs on both ends parallel to CSX tracks and often are right next to them (from Union Station to just north of Silver Spring on the east (Wheaton End) and from just north of White Flint to the end of the line at Shady Grove.  The Red Line often offers views of rail action especially when approaching Union Station.

Location of the incident is in the area where Metro tracks are between the CSX Metropolitan Sub #1 & #2 Main tracks.  Operation on the Metropolitan sub, including Brunswick Line MARC Commuter service has been suspended as the wrecking operations for this Metro incident are occupying CSX property.  Through operations have been rerouted to Baltimore for operation over the Old Main Line and Capital subs.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: Richmond, VA
  • 200 posts
Posted by penncentral2002 on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 5:03 PM

When you consider the volume of passengers, Metro has a pretty good safety record which is much better than driving on the roads in the Washington area (which probably takes years off of people's lives due to pure stress level).  No transportation system is totally safe - obviously as this accident shows - but when you consider that a fatal car accident would only get more than a little blurb in the Metro section of the Post if it involved something like street racing, it is easy to forget just how dangerous driving is since fatal car crashes are generally pretty mundane.

 At first, when I saw the photos, I thought that the collision happened in Silver Spring, MD since it looked like Silver Spring where CSX tracks are on each side of the Metro tracks - the Red Line runs on both ends parallel to CSX tracks and often are right next to them (from Union Station to just north of Silver Spring on the east (Wheaton End) and from just north of White Flint to the end of the line at Shady Grove.  The Red Line often offers views of rail action especially when approaching Union Station.

The Metro tracks use wooden ties (at least when above ground).

What I find is interestign is that this happened after so much emphasis was placed on worries about terrorism - did placing so much emphasis on the unlikely possibility of a terrorist bombing attack cause Metro to neglect the much realer possibility of system failure?

When I lived in the area and commuted on Metro, I generally rode in the first and last car because it was the least crowded (often when boarding at stations I boarded on (Rosslyn, Ballston, and Pentagon City mainly) it was impossible to board one of the center cars and you had little choice but to get in one of the end cars even though it was less safe.

The system does have funding problems - in Virginia, what resources are there tend to go to the Dulles Airport extension.  Because it is funding by three jurisdictions (the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) and Congress who has much control over the District, Metro necessarily faces a lot of issues when it comes to control and funding - it is supposed to be run by an interstate compact.

Last time I went up to the Washington Area, I stopped by the Van Dorn Street station to see if anything was in the Van Dorn Street Yard (Norfolk Southern) - I thought that Metro was about the only thing I missed about living up there (Richmond's public transit system is appallingly bad for a city of its size - even living one mile outside of the city limits in an area which 100 years ago had electric rail service (streetcars I believe - may have been interurban) and now has several parks and other attractions the closest bus stop is an half mile away) - driving is a horror and also risky (although often it wouldn't get fast enough to cause much damage in the inevitable accidents).

When I go back to Washington to visit, I'm still going to be riding Metro - and probably still riding in one of the end cars.

Zack http://penncentral2002.rrpicturearchives.net/
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 4:27 PM

PNWRMNM

Bucyrus,

The NTSB is a political organization.  They have a long list of wants/needs/got to haves for each mode.  When something happens that seems to relate to something on their list they trot it out as you have seen in this case.  I suspect the reason is that the media will carry the item in the immediate aftermath. 

The final reports get very little media play but do contain recommendations to the operator and the appropriate regulatory agencies.  They usually respond in writing to the NTSB.  If the operator or regulatory agency agrees and says "we will do that, or we have done that" NTSB is happy and closes the item as acceptible, if I remember the term correctly.  If the operator or regulatory agency disagrees NTSB closes it as unacceptable and waits for the appropriate accident to trot it out again.

It is all a political game.  To their credit NTSB is very good at aircraft accidents and reconstructions but they give no thought to the cost or benefits of their recommendations.  I think they are specificially prohibited from doing so, but am not sure of the law on that point.

Mac

While the NTSB does, for the most part, a very good job of accident investigation, when it comes to their Wish List for 'mandated' improvements to any mode of transportation they divorce themselves from any cost/benefit analysis of their wish items which the transportation companies must finance.

DC Metro has had a history of scrambling for money just to maintain there level of operations, let alone come up with money to fund 'improvements' that won't necessarily either increase service or decrease costs.

In some instances the NTSB final reports have been swayed by politics.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

  • Member since
    September 2001
  • From: US
  • 1,015 posts
Posted by RudyRockvilleMD on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 3:40 PM

Some additional information; The east leg of Metro's Red Line runs along the CSX Brunswick Line from the Rhode Island Avenue station to the Silver Spring Station; after leaving Silver Spring the Red Line enters a tunnel mostly under Georgia Avenue (MD 97) through Wheaton to Glenmont at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road (MD 97 and MD 182). 

MARC's Brunswick Line trains were cancelled today (June 23), however, Amtrak's eastbound Capitol Limited did run, and I expect the Westbound Capitol Limited will run today.

The accident raises many questions which the NTSB will have to sort out. According to today's Washington Post the train that was hit had stopped behind another train that was standing in the Ft. Totten station. Metro's tracks run in between the CSX Metro Subdivision tracks, and north of the Ft. Totten station the tracks curve around under the New Hampshire Avenue bridge so one question is, was the operator's sight-line blocked so she couldn't see the other train until it was too late?

Unfortunately Metro Rail's safety record isn't too good. There were two incidents in the last 5 years where track workers were killed because the train opeerators did not reduce the train sppeds as they passed the work zones. The brakes failed on a Red Line train at the Shady Grove station causing the train to derail, and killing the operator. There was another incident 5 yeas ago where the brakes failed on an empty Red Line train which rolled downhill, and collided with a standing Red Line train which was stopped at the Woodley Park-Zoo station. In another indcident on the Orange Line two years ago where the operators of two trains, having clear signalsand under automatic control, noticed their trains were still too close to one another so they applied the brakes. And finally 2 years ago a Yellow Line train derailed at the Mt Vernon Square station, and it collided with the tunnel wall injuring 20 people.

  • Member since
    April 2007
  • From: Lilburn, GA
  • 966 posts
Posted by CSXDixieLine on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:28 PM

oltmannd

TrainManTy
When were the Metro cars built?

The first batch were built in 1976 by Rohr Industries in Winder GA.  I believe they were designed by Breda of Italy.

Very interesting- I railfan around Winder quite often and did not realize that the current Trinity facility (fomer Thrall, former Rohr) made thiose cars. Thanks for the info. Jamie

  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: Atlanta
  • 11,971 posts
Posted by oltmannd on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 12:11 PM

TrainManTy
When were the Metro cars built?

The first batch were built in 1976 by Rohr Industries in Winder GA.  I believe they were designed by Breda of Italy.

-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 11:54 AM

carnej1

The Green Line and the DC Metro use very different signal and train control systems . IINM, the DC trains are much more automated with the Human operators as emergency backup so I do not think that we can assume the same circumstances (although I'm not suggesting human error can be ruled out).

 IINM, the LRVs are much newer than the DC equipment so that may explain the lack of event recorders..

 

I had no idea the Metro trains were automated... I can see how different they are now!

When were the Metro cars built?

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: Southington, CT
  • 1,326 posts
Posted by DMUinCT on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 11:35 AM

The NTSB does a fine job, I know a member of the rail group, its not the same people as in an airline crash. BUT, they can only recommend, it's up to the Congress or State Governments to pass or change a law to include the recommendations.  This has been done in the "Chatsworth Crash" but Congress has given the Railroads to 2015 to make the changes. We all know Calf. has lots of money!

AP News posted on Yahoo: for what it's worth.

The train that was hit (new type) had a "Black Box", the train that did the hitting (old type) did not.

The Driver of the hitting train, a 44 year old woman who was killed in the crash, was hired two years ago as a Bus Driver and later promoted to Trains.

During "Rush Hour Service" trains are run by the computers, off peak they sometimes are run manually.

Don U. TCA 73-5735

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern New York
  • 25,023 posts
Posted by tree68 on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 11:32 AM

Bucyrus
I have to ask why any official would volunteer this incredibly sensitive and incriminating information before the official investigation has even begun.

Purely political, as has been pointed out.  There's almost always a would-a, should-a, could-a that comes out early on, long before anything substantial or factual is released, or even known.

All too often initial "blame" gets placed on some peripheral issue (like the age of the cars) when the actual cause of the incident was something totally unrelated.  Granted, if the cars had been more crashworthy, the number of killed and injured might have been lower, but the fact remains that if [whatever the cause turns out to be] hadn't happened, the age of the cars would have been a moot point.

LarryWhistling
Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) 
Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you
My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date
Come ride the rails with me!
There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 11:12 AM

Bucyrus
...But, at the same time, this tactic seems incredibly ham-handed for failing to see the unintended consequence.  That is, when you blame unsafe equipment on a lack of funding, you acknowledge that you are placing the public in danger by knowingly running unsafe equipment. 

Agreed, and this raises distinct and troubling questions on ethics.

We should all hope, and expect patiently, that the facts are clear, simple and incontrovertible when they are revealed.

-Crandell 

 

  • Member since
    November 2003
  • From: Rhode Island
  • 2,289 posts
Posted by carnej1 on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 11:11 AM

TrainManTy

Sounds like the crash on the MBTA Green Line in Newton, MA in May 2008... One train stops at a signal, another rear ends it. The operator was texting. Train speeds on the ex-B&A line are at least 40.

That wreck was close to the same train speeds (the MBTA train was doing 37 or 38 MPH) and it was an older (either from the 1986 / 1988 or 1997 orders) light rail vehicle involved, not a heavy rail subway. The car had a black box, unlike the Metro car, and all but the motorman survived.

I can see why people are mad at the Metro... If a Type 7 LRV can survive better than a heavy rail subway at comparable speeds, and has a black box recorder, which the Metro car does not, there's something wrong there!

The Green Line and the DC Metro use very different signal and train control systems . IINM, the DC trains are much more automated with the Human operators as emergency backup so I do not think that we can assume the same circumstances (although I'm not suggesting human error can be ruled out).

 IINM, the LRVs are much newer than the DC equipment so that may explain the lack of event recorders..

"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 2,593 posts
Posted by PNWRMNM on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:56 AM

Bucyrus,

The NTSB is a political organization.  They have a long list of wants/needs/got to haves for each mode.  When something happens that seems to relate to something on their list they trot it out as you have seen in this case.  I suspect the reason is that the media will carry the item in the immediate aftermath. 

The final reports get very little media play but do contain recommendations to the operator and the appropriate regulatory agencies.  They usually respond in writing to the NTSB.  If the operator or regulatory agency agrees and says "we will do that, or we have done that" NTSB is happy and closes the item as acceptible, if I remember the term correctly.  If the operator or regulatory agency disagrees NTSB closes it as unacceptable and waits for the appropriate accident to trot it out again.

It is all a political game.  To their credit NTSB is very good at aircraft accidents and reconstructions but they give no thought to the cost or benefits of their recommendations.  I think they are specificially prohibited from doing so, but am not sure of the law on that point.

Mac

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: Southington, CT
  • 1,326 posts
Posted by DMUinCT on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:44 AM

Lets back up, IF the trains had not CRASHED, the construction of the cars would be a non-starter. 

The damage is a result, not a cause.

When you start to ask questions, how do you get two outbound trains at the same place, on a double track, third rail powered, computer controlled line at the same time?

Don U. TCA 73-5735

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:37 AM
Bucyrus
I have to ask why any official would volunteer this incredibly sensitive and incriminating information before the official investigation has even begun.  I can only conclude that it is evidence of an on-going agenda to lobby the public for more funding by highlighting the premise that inadequate funding increases danger to the public.  What better tool could there be?  It basically tries to blame the crash on the taxpayers. 
 
But, at the same time, this tactic seems incredibly ham-handed for failing to see the unintended consequence.  That is, when you blame unsafe equipment on a lack of funding, you acknowledge that you are placing the public in danger by knowingly running unsafe equipment. 

I thought it was the National Transportation Safety Board (NSTB) that was making the statements, not the DC Metro itself.

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 10:34 AM

CShaveRR
Forgive me, but I've never ridden or followed the DC Metro system, so I'm not sure about their equipment (long and low, is all I remember from seeing some a few years ago). But we are dealing with some mighty old cars here. News reports say that the train that rear-ended the other one had old cars that should have been phased out years ago. The fact that the shell split away from the frame in the way it did attests to the lack of crashworthiness of that particular design.

 

I suspect (at the risk of becoming too political here) that the short-changing of mass transit by past administrations and Congresses is to blame for old equipment being kept around longer than it should have been, given modern safety requirements. Even if the Metro were to become appropriately "stimulated" today, it would take years before these cars could be phased out.

Along the same lines (sort of):

The cause of this crash will be determined by a full investigation that might take weeks.  It is likely to be several days before one or more probable causes emerge and are reported.  We will be told over and over not to jump to any conclusions until the investigation is complete.  Yet today officials are reporting that the equipment comprising the train that struck the other was old and overdue for replacement.  And they add that the failure to replace it was a safety concern.  Specifically, they have linked the insufficient crashworthiness of the obsolete equipment to the damage suffered in this crash.  I have not heard reports of any other linkage of the inadequate safety of the obsolete equipment to the crash, but perhaps there have been some. 

 

I have to ask why any official would volunteer this incredibly sensitive and incriminating information before the official investigation has even begun.  I can only conclude that it is evidence of an on-going agenda to lobby the public for more funding by highlighting the premise that inadequate funding increases danger to the public.  What better tool could there be?  It basically tries to blame the crash on the taxpayers. 

 

But, at the same time, this tactic seems incredibly ham-handed for failing to see the unintended consequence.  That is, when you blame unsafe equipment on a lack of funding, you acknowledge that you are placing the public in danger by knowingly running unsafe equipment. 

  • Member since
    June 2001
  • From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois
  • 13,681 posts
Posted by CShaveRR on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 9:36 AM
Forgive me, but I've never ridden or followed the DC Metro system, so I'm not sure about their equipment (long and low, is all I remember from seeing some a few years ago). But we are dealing with some mighty old cars here. News reports say that the train that rear-ended the other one had old cars that should have been phased out years ago. The fact that the shell split away from the frame in the way it did attests to the lack of crashworthiness of that particular design.

I suspect (at the risk of becoming too political here) that the short-changing of mass transit by past administrations and Congresses is to blame for old equipment being kept around longer than it should have been, given modern safety requirements. Even if the Metro were to become appropriately "stimulated" today, it would take years before these cars could be phased out.

Carl

Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)

CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)

  • Member since
    November 2006
  • From: Southington, CT
  • 1,326 posts
Posted by DMUinCT on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 9:34 AM

As reported in other Forum replies, the "State of the Art" DC Metro was conceived to run without an operator, complete computer control.   Safe, interesting features, Subway Stations without columns for crime prevention, a hidden compartment next to the Motorman so Transit Police can watch down the car un-observed.    An Operator or Motorman was added just to guard the doors. When the motoman stepped off, 20 years ago, the train left without him, a "Start Button" was added in the cab.  I have ridden them, read about the advances, I do not know the extent of "Cab Signals", "Stop", or "Overide" buttons and switches that are in the cab nor the amount of training required on a computerized system. 

Something went very wrong that wasn't backed up.

Don U. TCA 73-5735

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 8:41 AM

Sounds like the crash on the MBTA Green Line in Newton, MA in May 2008... One train stops at a signal, another rear ends it. The operator was texting. Train speeds on the ex-B&A line are at least 40.

That wreck was close to the same train speeds (the MBTA train was doing 37 or 38 MPH) and it was an older (either from the 1986 / 1988 or 1997 orders) light rail vehicle involved, not a heavy rail subway. The car had a black box, unlike the Metro car, and all but the motorman survived.

I can see why people are mad at the Metro... If a Type 7 LRV can survive better than a heavy rail subway at comparable speeds, and has a black box recorder, which the Metro car does not, there's something wrong there!

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Aurora, IL
  • 4,515 posts
Posted by eolafan on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 8:30 AM

In a choice between operator (i.e. human) error and technology breaking down...I will go with the latter.

Eolafan (a.k.a. Jim)
  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: NW Wisconsin
  • 3,857 posts
Posted by beaulieu on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 8:08 AM
As of Tuesday Morning, 6/23/09, the Death Toll has now risen to 9.
  • Member since
    September 2001
  • From: US
  • 1,015 posts
Posted by RudyRockvilleMD on Monday, June 22, 2009 10:31 PM

One southbound train collided with another just under the New Hampshire Avenue Bridge near the Ft. Totten station on the Red Line 

Update as of 10 PM: There are 70 injuries; 50 people who have minor injuries, 14 people who have moderate injuries, and 6 people who have serious injuries. So far there are 6 people who are known dead, but the Fire Department's Emeregency Rescue Service is still searching both trains for others.

NTSB is on the scene, but they can't begin their investigation until the Fire Department finishes its search and rescue opereation. One of the things they will be looking for is an event recorder which gives information such as time of day, speed, and whether the trains were under automatic or manual control. The General manger of Metro was interviewed, and he said it was standard procedure to have the trains on automatic [computer controlled] operation during rush hours. The Metro trains that crashed carried 6 cars, one train was one of the earliest series - 1000 series - while the other train was of the 5000 series;   

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Elmwood Park, NJ
  • 2,385 posts
Posted by trainfan1221 on Monday, June 22, 2009 9:18 PM

Just saw about this on local news so I checked in.  What a disaster, lets hope the casualties don't go any further. 

  • Member since
    April 2001
  • From: US
  • 1,103 posts
Posted by ValleyX on Monday, June 22, 2009 9:10 PM
Railway Man

ValleyX
Does anything know anything about the operation of the Metro DC system. I read on another forum that these trains are computer controlled with an operator override. Is there any truth to that?

 

It's automatic control.  In normal operation the motorman only opens and closes the doors, and makes station announcements.

RWM

And pay attention. Seems like it would be very boring and would lead to complacency. But, we'll have to wait and see what the facts bring out.
  • Member since
    November 2007
  • 2,989 posts
Posted by Railway Man on Monday, June 22, 2009 9:05 PM

ValleyX
Does anything know anything about the operation of the Metro DC system. I read on another forum that these trains are computer controlled with an operator override. Is there any truth to that?

 

It's automatic control.  In normal operation the motorman only opens and closes the doors, and makes station announcements.

RWM

  • Member since
    April 2001
  • From: US
  • 1,103 posts
Posted by ValleyX on Monday, June 22, 2009 8:58 PM
Does anything know anything about the operation of the Metro DC system. I read on another forum that these trains are computer controlled with an operator override. Is there any truth to that?
  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: US
  • 25,292 posts
Posted by BaltACD on Monday, June 22, 2009 8:43 PM

Information is indicating that it was a rear end collision, as opposed to head on as was previously being reported.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

Newsletter Sign-Up

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy