HYATTSVILLE, Md. -
Managers at Metro believe it was a "heat kink" in the rails that caused the derailment of a Green Line train during Friday's afternoon rush hour. About 50 passengers were aboard the train. None appeared to be injured.
Metro says, "Heat kinks are short sections of misaligned track caused by the expansion of metal rails in extremely high temperatures and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight. When the expanding rail cannot be constrained by cross-ties and ballast, the rail may expand outward from the normal track alignment."
Train operators have been restricted to a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour on all outdoor sections of the rail system since the derailment Friday at 4:45 p.m. A small section of the Green Line in Prince George's County remains closed, with bus bridges ferrying passengers among the Ft. Totten, West Hyattsville, and Prince George's Plaza stations.
By mid-day Saturday, the derailed train had been re-railed and towed into the closed West Hyattsville station. The side of one of the cars appeared to have suffered scratches, possibly from scraping the side of the underground tunnel during the derailment.
One passenger who was aboard the train, Brenda Armstead, said, "The train jumped up - a jolt. [It then] came back down. Then [it] went wildly to the right."
Armstead praised the train operator for quickly surveying passengers for possible injury, then leading them forward in the train away from smoke. She said the train operator guessed the smoke was coming from brake pads.
Armstead also praised Prince George's County Firefighters for the evacuation into the underground tunnel, then up emergency stairs.
"There was a lot of children on the train, so they made sure the women and children got out first," Armstead explained. "So the firemen… opened the side door, and we had to sit down [in the doorway, and jump from that sitting position.] And each fireman -- helped us down, and walked us through. They had [firefighters] lined up all the way throughout the tunnel, for us to find our way through."
Because of the extreme heat wave, Metro has extra track inspectors on duty this weekend. The speed restriction is slowing rail service, according to Chip Milanzi, a resident of D.C., but when told of Friday's derailment and the suspicion that heat contributed to the rail kinking, Milanzi said, "Safety first. Safety first."
Managers at Metro are hoping to fully reopen the Green Line by Monday morning rush hour.
Updates will be provided through MetroAlerts (www.wmata.com/metroalerts) throughout the weekend as repairs are made.
All previously announced weekend track work has been canceled for the weekend of July 7-8, 2012.
