Metro interim GM statement on July 27 NTSB meeting

"On behalf of all Metro employees, I want to first express my condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones and those who were injured in the tragic accident on June 22, 2009," said Richard Sarles, Washington, D.C., Metro Interim General Manager. "I believe that the greatest honor that we can pay them and also our customers who rely on us every day is to work to prevent such an incident from ever happening and to become the safest railroad possible. 

  

"Today at Metro there is no
higher value or priority than safety," he said. "We have taken dozens of
actions just in the last year to improve safety for our customers and
employees. And I pledged that we will carefully consider the comments, findings
and recommendations that come forth from the National Transportation Safety
Board today, and continue to work cooperatively with the NTSB just as we have
in advance of today’s meeting. 



"To date, working with the
NTSB, the Federal Transit Administration and the Tri-State Oversight Committee,
Metro has closed 202 of 256 safety action plans or followed through on
recommendations that we have received from them," Sarles pointed out. "We are
in the midst of making major safety improvements to equipment and
infrastructure and basic protocols, process and procedures. 

With respect to
our train control system, we continue to operate in manual mode while a
real-time track-circuit-monitoring system is being developed. We’ve instituted
twice daily evaluation of track circuits. And we’ve established test procedures
to identify track circuits susceptible to parasitic oscillation, which is being
reviewed by the NTSB. 



"Among the equipment
improvements, we are issuing a contract to purchase new rail cars to replace
the 1000 rail car series, the oldest in our fleet," he noted. "In the meantime,
rollback protection is being installed on the entire fleet and the 1000 series
will be complete at the end of this month.

"

Our rail infrastructure
is undergoing major upgrades," Sarles said. "Over the next six years, the Red,
Orange and Blue rail lines will be rehabilitated as part of projects valuing more
than $600 million. 



"While all of these
improvements are important, a truly successful, effective and enduring safety
program is one that prevents incidents from occurring by identifying risks in
advance," he said. "We are building the foundation of a culture of prevention
at Metro. We are developing a Safety Management System to track, identify and
monitor progress to address safety concerns. We’ve rebuilt and expanded our
Safety Department. 

To encourage involvement by our employees, who are our
eyes and ears to prevention, we have reinforced our whistleblower policy,
established a safety hotline to anonymously report safety concerns, and have
initiated discussions with Local 689 to establish procedures to encourage reporting
of near misses without punitive consequences. 

We have also revised our safety
rulebook, overhauled our Roadway Worker Protection Program and expanded safety
training throughout the agency. 

It is this commitment that we will take with
us as we work cooperatively with the NTSB on its final recommendations."