Metro News Release

For immediate release: November 30, 2006

Two Metro employees struck by Yellow Line train, one dead

Two Metro track walkers were struck by a four-car Yellow Line train on an elevated track between the Huntington and Eisenhower Ave Metrorail stations at 9:30 a.m. today, Nov. 30. One employee was killed, and the second person is in critical condition and has been transported to a local hospital.

The 29-year veteran employee who died was conducting routine track inspection along the rail line at the time of his death. The injured worker has been a Metro employee since April 2006. The accident is under investigation.

The Yellow Line train involved in the incident was leaving the Huntington station and heading into the Alexandria rail yard. There were no passengers aboard the train because it was not in service. The train operator, a Metro employee since 1999, was taken for routine drug and alcohol testing.

The Huntington and Eisenhower Ave stations are closed as emergency personnel investigate the incident. Yellow Line trains are terminating at the Braddock Road Metrorail station. Free shuttle bus service has been established between the Braddock Road, King Street, Eisenhower Ave and Huntington stations.

The Metro Transit Police and emergency personnel are on the scene. An internal investigation continues, and the National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the accident.

This is the second employee fatality this year. On May 14, an automatic train control technician was hit and killed by a Red Line train at the Dupont Circle Metrorail station. Fourteen Metro employees have died on the job in the agency’s 30-year history.

News release issued on November 30, 2006.