Washington Metrorail Safety Commission raises concerns about automated trains, overruns

WASHINGTON -
Data shared by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission indicates there have been 216 overruns on the red line since December.

By the numbers:

That imputes a pace of 350 overruns per year.

A WMSC engineer says the Red Line accounts to just over 25% of the entire system.  A WMSC official says there’s a concern of the impacts systemwide if there are over 1,000 overruns per year.

"We have not ordered that they stop using ATO on the red line because quite frankly we want to give them an opportunity to keep working on the issue and working to address it, study it, solve it in any way possible," said WMSC CEO David Mayer.

What they're saying:

WMATA, pushed back a bit in a statement to FOX 5 late Tuesday afternoon.

They say there have been zero red signal violations and the system is bringing speed, efficiency, and safety to the system, citing a 99.97% reliability.

WMATA says the overruns are not considered a safety issue by their peers or the Federal Transit Administration.

What's next:

WMATA has a public meeting on Thursday and says it’ll be discussed there.

Despite the statements from the Metrorail Safety Commission members today, WMATA says automation is ready for the Green Line right now and for the rest of the system by summer.

The WMSC would have to concur that automation expansion is safe.