Metro Working to Replace Old Rail Cars

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Metro's board is promising to work "aggressively" to replace its oldest rail cars after concerns about their safety in crashes.

For more than a decade now, Metro has ignored National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations to reinforce or replace its 1000 series rail cars. The NTSB is calling that "unacceptable" after one of those rail cars was involved in Monday's deadly crash near the Fort Totten station that killed nine people.

When the two Metro trains collided, one car ended up on top of the other-- almost completely crushing it. It's called telescoping, and the NTSB has long recommended Metro replace or strengthen its 1000 series rail cars-- the oldest in the fleet-- to withstand such a crash.

On Tuesday, Debbie Hersman with the NTSB said Metro never complied.

The first recommendation actually came in 1996, when a Red Line train at Shady Grove crashed into an empty train, killing the train operator. Then, it happened again at the Woodley Park station in 2006 when a runaway train ran into another one loading and unloading passengers.

Metro responded to the NTSB, saying to replace or reinforce the old rail cars, which are due to be phased out between 2012 and 2015, was impractical and too costly.

"We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. We're not talking about something that's off the shelf. It's something that has to be custom built," said Lisa Farbstein, a Metro spokesperson.

Metro has 293 of the 1000 series rail cars still in service. At an emergency meeting of Metro's board, General Manager John Catoe promised to take action.

"We will take time and action to find the root and cause of this tragedy, correct it and also implement whatever recommendations will come from the National Transportation Safety Board," Catoe said, without specifying whether that included removing the 1000 series cars as previously recommended.

The NTSB does not have the power to force agencies to comply with its recommendations. Despite years of warnings, legal experts say Metro may be protected from any liability concerning the crashworthiness of the cars because of governmental immunity regarding policy decisions. What it comes down to is, "they have the option to decide how to spend their money or not, " according to Attorney Kim Brooks-Rodney, a former lawyer for Metro who is now in private practice.

Regardless of the crashworthiness, union representatives for Metro train operators say the crash should have never happened in the first place. They say if safety mechanisms that are supposed to stop trains from getting too close had worked, the crashworthiness of the trains wouldn't be a factor.

Metro's board now says it has asked the federal government for funding in next year's budget to replace the 1000 series rail cars, but even if they get the money, it could take five years for the trains to arrive. In the meantime, Metro Board Chairman Jim Graham says the agency is now considering "other strategies" for using those old rail cars