NTSB releases final report on 2021 Metro derailment of 7000-series car
NTSB chair blasts WMATA over 'poor safety culture'
The National Transportation Safety Board is accusing Metro of consistent failures when it comes to safety. That point was highlighted during a news conference on the 2021 Metro train derailment that continues to impact the region. FOX 5’s Stephanie Ramirez reports from the Arlington Cemetery Metro stop.
WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board released on Thursday their final report on the October 2021 Metro derailment.
On October 12, 2021, a 7000-series Blue Line train derailed between Rosslyn and Arlington Cemetery stations. The derailment sent one passenger to the hospital with minor injuries and triggered several days of service disruptions along the Blue Line.
NTSB reported in October 2021 that the train had derailed several times earlier that same day.
Following the derailment, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority withdrew the entire 7000-series line of trains until June 2022.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy spoke critically of WMATA's "poor safety culture."
"We’re lucky, absolutely lucky, that this didn’t end up in a tragedy," Homendy said.
The report found that the derailment happened due to the wheels of one wheelset migrating outward on their axle over time, and when traveling over special track work, the wider wheelset left the track.
"We found that one department within WMATA was aware of wheel migration in its railcar fleet and attempted to mitigate the associated safety risks, but the department did not conduct a trend analysis to monitor the incidence of wheel migration or how effective its mitigations were," the NTSB report summary said. "A trend analysis would have shown the increasing incidence of wheel migration and made an effective response more likely."
The report goes on to say that WMATA has since made improvements to its safety management systems "and has plans to expand its use of trend analysis and related tools to identify and mitigate safety risks before accidents occur."