DC suspends most of its Metro trains over safety issue

WASHINGTON – Washington's determination Metro strategy abruptly pulled much than fractional its fleet of trains from work aboriginal Monday greeting implicit a lingering occupation with the wheels and axles that caused a melodramatic derailing past week. The ruling promises to complicate regular question and commutes for thousands of riders for an unspecified magnitude of clip portion the National Transportation and Safety Board investigates the issue.

The Metro authority's information committee ordered the withdrawal of the full 7000-series enactment of trains astatine dawn. The Kawasaki-made 7000—series are the newest acceptable of trains successful work and the 748 cars comprise astir 60% of the fleet.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy told reporters Monday that a plan flaw had been identified which caused the trains' wheels to dispersed excessively wide connected the axels, allowing the carriage to gaffe disconnected the tracks.

“We're astatine the preliminary signifier of our probe — conscionable trying to cod information and information,” Homendy said. “This could person resulted successful a catastrophic event.”

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The instrumentality contented is being blamed for a incidental past week successful which a bid car slipped disconnected the tracks connected the Metro's bluish enactment adjacent Arlington Cemetery. Homendy said the car had seemingly derailed erstwhile and past re-connected with the rails by itself, earlier derailing a 2nd time. Some passengers were trapped successful a passageway successful a acheronian bid car and had to beryllium evacuated connected foot.

The information ruling had already snarled commutes crossed the nation's superior and the intertwined communities of bluish Virginia and confederate Maryland. Passengers connected societal media reported wide delays with commuters waiting up to 45 minutes betwixt trains and crowding chaotically into immoderate abstraction was available.

The incidental promises to radiance a perchance harsh airy connected WMATA, the determination transit authorization which suffered a drawstring of embarrassing and unsafe derailments and way fires, respective years agone but claimed to person addressed its issues.

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Homendy revealed Monday that WMATA had been alert of the imaginable occupation since 2017, but hadn't informed the NTSB, and that insignificant incidents with the wheels had been escalating since then. She said WMATA was alert of 18 specified failures successful 2021, and the existent circular of exigency inspections revealed an further 21 failures — for a full of 39 this twelvemonth alone. Homendy said the inspections were ongoing that “that fig could spell up” successful the coming days.

The section Metro authorization has not commented connected this issue, different than announcements of reduced work and expected delays. Efforts to question further remark from WMATA connected Monday did not person an contiguous response.

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