In the year since the deadliest crash in Metro history, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has at least attained a certain level of distinction. "We do not see the frequency of accidents on other properties that we are seeing on Metro," notes National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman in Tuesday's WaPo article on the transit authority's [...]
Whoa—big story just posted by Washington Post reporters Lena Sun and Lyndsey Layton:
The train control system designed to prevent Metro crashes is malfunctioning across the railroad, suggesting that a technological failure at the heart of last month's fatal crash may be widespread, according to officials and documents.
At least one-half dozen track circuits on four of [...]
Hurt in Monday's Metro crash and looking for legal representation? The folks behind dcmetrocrash.com would be happy to help you out.
The site actually includes a bunch of pretty good information about the crash—information that might be taken as somewhat incriminating, anyway. That the train operator 'had been on the job for four months'; that the [...]
You can listen to the radio transmissions from the metro crash here. [You can also go directly to the radio calls here].The first 911 dispatcher call out is for a pretty significant all hands on deck for a derailment. There doesn't appear to be any confusion about the severity of the crash. And then there's [...]
The family of Ana Fernandez, a victim of the metro crash, tell WTOP they've gotten a bunch of hate calls from anti-immigrant crazies. The station reports:
"They have been getting hate-filled telephone messages about whether or not Fernandez, a mother of six, was a legal immigrant.
Her family gathered outside her Hyattsville apartment Wednesday. A crying woman [...]
Hey, Metro rider!
By now, in the wake of Monday's collision, you've heard plenty about the different types of Metro cars—specifically how the oldest '1000-series' cars were judged by the NTSB years ago to offer substandard levels of protection in a crash.
So maybe you're thinking that you should avoid these cars. But how?
Very simple: At [...]
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT—Washington City Paper's continuing coverage of the Red Line collision
Morning all. In WaPo's A Section today, amid all the second-day stories on the horrific Metro [...]
The one thing you don't mess around with in a tragedy is the body count. But yesterday morning during a press conference on the metro crash, Mayor Adrian Fenty did just that. Even though Metro and the Fire Department had confirmed that nine passengers had died in the Red Line accident, Fenty overruled those officials [...]
Councilmember Jim Graham, who is chairman of the Metro Board, just called in to report a few things to City Desk regarding yesterday's Metro crash. Graham mentioned that the board's $250,000 relief fund for the Metro crash victims' families. He emphasized that this is not hush money.
"We wanted to have this immediately," Graham explains. "We [...]
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty: Expresses deepest condolences, as is standard practice to start these briefings.
Confirms nine fatalities, the final count. "As a government and as a city" there are only four people whose identities have been confirmed.
Three of the four are residents of the District of Columbia. One lived in Hyattsville. Fenty contacted three of [...]
Brandon Burgess, who was standing by the glass partition in the middle of the Red Line car mangled in yesterday's crash, gives an interesting account of what happened to the Knoxville News Sentinel (he's a former student at the University of Tennessee).
Burgess, on his way to U Street and planning to change trains at Fort [...]
The Washington Times picked up what may become an emerging angle from the Metro Crash—the tensions between WMATA and the D.C. Fire Department. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin basically called out WMATA for initially downplaying the extent of the crash. The Times writes:
"Fire officials stated bluntly Monday night that Metro's original description of the accident understated [...]
WaPo's Dr. Gridlock blogged the identities of seven of the nine who died in yesterday's Red Line crash:
Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield (train operator)
Major General David F. Wherley, Jr., former commanding general, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia National Guard, and his wife Ann, both 62
Lavonda King, 23
Dennis Hawkins, 64
Mary Doolittle, 59
Anna Fernandez, 40
Per Cherkis, [...]
WMATA on Twitter from nine minutes ago:
"Red Line: Trains are turning back at Rhode Island Avenue & Silver Spring due to a situation outside of Fort Totten station. Shuttle bus ser"
The Washington Post is reporting that the metro car involved in the Red Line crash yesterday was due for brake maintenance. The Post writes:
"The Metro train car that slammed into another on the Red Line yesterday evening was two months past due for scheduled maintenance on its brakes, and the car was an older model [...]
