Metro Train Derails in DC Rail Yard
Updated: Friday, 12 Mar 2010, 6:55 AM EST
Published : Friday, 12 Mar 2010, 6:55 AM EST
WASHINGTON - Metro officials say a train with no passengers aboard derailed in a rail yard.
Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said Thursday that the train was being moved in the Brentwood rail yard around noon Wednesday when an operator apparently ran a red signal.
Farbstein says the front two wheels of the four-car train derailed, damaging the track and the third rail, but no injuries were reported. She did not have a damage estimate.
Farbstein says two train operators and a track worker on the scene were given drug and alcohol tests and put on routine paid administrative leave.
Metro officials say manually operated trains are running slower and dozens of track problems are adding to the delays.
Metro has announced two new safety upgrades to its trains.
Transit experts and officials are expected to gather this week for a federal hearing on the fatal June Metro train crash.
Metro's board of directors has recruited former New Jersey Transit chief Richard Sarles to become the agency's interim general manager.
The cost of riding a Metro bus or Metro train will rise, Sunday, by ten cents a ride. Seniors and disabled passengers will pay a nickel more.
From time to time Metro makes announcements warning passengers on its trains against leaning on the doors. That might be a good idea because, in the past, the doors on the "wrong" side of the train have sometimes opened unexpectedly.
The board that oversees Metro is apparently close to choosing an interim general manager to run the troubled transit system.
The manufacturer of Metro's automatic train control system warned the transit agency not to mix parts with those made by other manufacturers.
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