WMATA expands East Falls Church derailment investigation

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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WMATA

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is expanding the investigation into the East Falls Church derailment to include Metro Transit Police.

The investigation into the July 29 derailment began as an administration review by WMATA‘s Safety Department, but Metro Transit Police will now run a parallel investigation. WMATA’s General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said the expanded investigation came as a result of a briefing in which investigators advised him of concerns arising from employee interviews, inspection reports, rail defect tracking and video recordings.

“The administrative review uncovered information that warrants further investigation by Metro Transit Police,” Wiedefeld said. “While Safety Department investigations determine cause and accountability, it is even more important to understand if other issues must be addressed with the way track inspections and maintenance have been conducted.”

WMATA’s General Counsel Patricia Lee has engaged two former Assistant U.S. Attorneys (AUSA) as special investigators to support the internal administrative review. Adam Hoffinger, a former AUSA for the Southern District of New York and Peter White, a former AUSA for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia, will work closely with Lee on this matter. Both have extensive prosecutorial experience with complex cases.

“The public has a right to know that the tracks on which their trains run are being properly inspected,” said Wiedefeld. “The information uncovered to date raises potentially serious concerns, and we will take all actions necessary to get answers and hold people accountable.”

Wiedefeld assured riders that the SafeTrack program underway (in which WMATA tracks are being inspected and repaired) has been and will continue to be subject to quality controls from multiple internal and external groups to ensure all track work meets WMATA’s high standards. At the time of the derailment, East Falls Church interlocking had not yet been addressed as part of SafeTrack. Deteriorated crossties, which allowed widening of track gauge, have been pointed to as the preliminary reason for the derailment.

WMATA is engaging an outside engineering firm to conduct a comprehensive review of its track inspection program.

“While we continue the due diligence to identify the cause of any conditions that may have contributed to this incident, [WMATA] is simultaneously repairing the system and providing better rules, training, quality control and line management,” said Wiedefeld.

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