Metro News Release

For immediate release: November 10, 2004

Metro offers advisory to train operators

Metro’s rail car operators received a memo yesterday to refresh them about standard braking procedures consistent with the training that all train operators go through to qualify for their jobs. It further reminded them that "roll-back" protection in its rail cars exists only when the rail cars are being run in automatic mode. In the interest of passenger safety and operator awareness, an initial memo was distributed on Saturday, November 6, and pertained to the type of rail car involved in last week’s accident, known as a Rohr car.

On November 3 two Metrorail trains collided at the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metrorail station when a six-car train that was not carrying passengers drifted backward and collided with a six-car train that was servicing the station. Twenty passengers sustained minor injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the collision.

"In the aftermath of last week’s accident, we believe that we have a responsibility to remind our train operators about proper, safe braking procedures," said Fred Goodine, Metro’s Assistant General Manager for System Safety and Risk Protection. "We are not asking our train operators to do anything differently. We are simply providing a reminder to them about proper braking procedures. We are asking them to continue to do exactly what they have been trained to do. It is perfectly safe for us to operate trains either manually or automatically."

Train operators have several methods to brake a train. The braking methods include manual braking which uses a master control lever to apply both dynamic and friction brakes; a safety handle that applies an emergency brake if a train operator becomes incapacitated; an emergency button known as a "mushroom" that can be pushed to engage emergency brakes; and a parking brake.

"We sent yesterday’s memo and Saturday’s memo just as reminders to our operators about safe train operations, whether the trains are operated automatically or manually," said James Gallagher, Deputy General Manager for Operations. "You can rarely over-communicate with your front line people, and because of all the talk about ’roll-back’ protection since last week’s collision, we wanted to be absolutely certain that all of our operators are fully aware of all of our safe braking procedures whether trains are in automatic or manual mode of operation."

Metro train operators have always been trained in safe braking in manual and automatic mode since the inauguration of the system in 1976. Metro ran trains safely in manual mode exclusively for 624 consecutive days between March 1999 and November 2000 while completing the installation of "vital relays" that control critical train operations. Currently trains are operated in both manual and automatic mode.

The rail cars that are currently undergoing a rehabilitation upgrade process have the added ’roll back’ protection feature when the trains are operated in manual mode. So far approximately 70 of Metro’s 950 rail cars have that new feature. All future deliveries of Metro rail cars take advantage of this design capability in the train control industry of this new rollback feature. This includes the new 6000-series rail cars which were ordered in 2002 and are due to start arriving in late 2005.

News release issued on November 10, 2004.