NTSB cites poor safety management in five Metro-North accidents

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor

In its investigation of five Metro-North accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) identified several recurring safety issues, including inadequate and ineffective track inspection and maintenance, extensive deferred maintenance issues, inadequate safety oversight and deficiencies in passenger car crashworthiness, roadway worker protection procedures and organizational safety culture.

 

Within an 11-month period from May 2013 through March 2014, the NTSB launched investigations into five significant accidents involving Metro-North. Taken together, these accidents resulted in six fatalities and 126 injuries. During the investigations, the NTSB found several safety management problems that were common to all of the accidents.

“Seeing this pattern of safety issues in a single railroad is troubling,” said NTSB Acting Chairman Christopher Hart. “The NTSB has made numerous recommendations to the railroad and the regulator that could have prevented or mitigated these accidents. But recommendations can only make a difference if the recipients of our recommendations act on them.”

As a result of the early findings from the five investigations, the NTSB initiated an in-depth special investigation of Metro-North. On November 19, the board will hold a meeting to discuss the numerous safety issues identified during that special investigation. During the meeting, investigators will discuss all recent Metro-North accidents, examine the common elements that were found in each and highlight lessons learned and the steps that have been taken to make rail transit safer for Metro-North passengers.

The NTSB will also issue safety recommendations designed to improve railroad safety on Metro-North and other railroads. Early this year, the NTSB made safety recommendations to the Federal Railroad Administration and to Metro-North that address some ongoing issues.

In August 2014, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) independently-funded Blue Ribbon Panel tasked with studying safety and maintenance practices at Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road and New York City Transit, released its final recommendations for improvement.

Metro-North is studying the findings of a series of technical reports from TTCI, which recommended changes to how the railroad inspects and maintains its tracks, as well as to how it manages all areas of track maintenance. Metro-North has either begun implementation or fully implemented many of TTCI’s recommendations as the railroad continues to improve its management of track maintenance.

Metro-North has embarked on major safety improvements over the past year, including enhancing track inspection and maintenance, beefing up the safety and training departments, expanding employee testing programs to ensure understanding of safety rules and creating a computer-based track worker safety program.

MTA also recently hired David Mayer as its new chief safety officer. The new position was created to reinforce safety as the top priority for all MTA agencies as they continue to improve work practices and invest in new technology and equipment.

 

 

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