Non-revenue derailment at Smithsonian

[DiscoveryAnalysis]

But, will the union allow WMATA to fire some people? After all, the union forced the train operator in the Woodley Park accident back on the job after he had been fired.

I believe Requa was referring first to mgmt who didn't act.


Whoa! Where did you hear that the operator of 703 at Woodley got put back. Last I heard that operator & the one involved at Faragut N in 2010 were let go for gross negligence.....

[YOLO]

Even if people get fired the unions will put them back in after a costly lengthy legal battle. Nothing will change.

[MCL1981]

I'd love to say I'm shocked by negligent management at WMATA. But that's sadly par for the course. They'll fire some people, most likely an unprotected scapegoat. And then nothing will change.

[smallfire85]

But, will the union allow WMATA to fire some people? After all, the union forced the train operator in the Woodley Park accident back on the job after he had been fired.

If the focus is on the management, those positions are typically non-union, so it would be easy to let one of them go. This was definitely a dropped ball in my opinion.

[MCL1981]

What does impress me if the interim GM's response to this. Completely different than Metro's usual response. Generally they have Dan Stessel loosely blame the incident on customers or the government, then imply that we should be thankful for what we've got despite the body count. Then he'll issue a non-update update 2 months later adding someone else to the blame list and bragging about a new study to form a committee to hire a contractor to create a PR campaign. When the customers ask for a refund, they'd be told they aren't eligible because they took more than two breaths of air in a station.

This guy promptly explained what went wrong, why it was unacceptable, accepted blame for it, and threatened actual repercussions for management inaction. Then issued 3/4 of a million dollars in refunds, which is unheard of. This guy needs to be the beginning of a pattern if anything is ever going to improve at WMATA.

[JackRussell]

Hmm, and what kind of a refund do you get if you took a taxi instead of Metro because of the derailment?

[MCL1981]

Hmm, and what kind of a refund do you get if you took a taxi instead of Metro because of the derailment?

"Nothing. You got where you're going, didn't you? You're welcome." - Dan Stessel

[srepetsk]

Hmm, and what kind of a refund do you get if you took a taxi instead of Metro because of the derailment?

If you entered and left the system at all between 5am-7pm last Friday, you get your SmarTrip card refunded. Otherwise, you're out of luck.

[srepetsk]

TOC released their statement - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr- ... o-failure/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FTA apparently has as well, although I do not have a link to it, just Martin Di Caro's post (https://twitter.com/MartinDiCaro/status ... 0985154560" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

[srepetsk]

More fallout from the derailment and the post-derailment track inspections: all medium+ speed curves are now subject to speed restrictions until further notice. http://wmata.com/rider_tools/metro_serv ... m?AID=5127" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Anybody happen to know how many sections of track this would refer to?

[JDC]

Metro's Board is meeting today to discuss the 130 page report on the derailment, as well as possible disciplinary measures for employees involved. The report has not yet been released, but it supposedly will be. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tra ... story.html

[litz]

Heh ...

Ideally, Metro’s parallel subway rails are supposed to be 56 1/4 inches apart, although small variations are considered safe.

Hopefully this is a mistake in the article ... if not, perhaps we now know the issue ...

[JackRussell]

Heh ...

Ideally, Metro’s parallel subway rails are supposed to be 56 1/4 inches apart, although small variations are considered safe.

Hopefully this is a mistake in the article ... if not, perhaps we now know the issue ...

No, the article is correct:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_ ... e_railways" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Washington Metro uses 4 ft 8 1⁄4 in (1,429 mm)

I was told that the gauge is slightly different from standard gauge in order to improve the ride quality.

[dcmike]

Hopefully this is a mistake in the article

What's mistaken? That is the correct gauge. Small variations are acceptable - FTA tolerances allow for gauges between 55 7/8 inches and 57 3/4 inches before the track must be taken out of service. Anything over 57 inches however requires a slow order until it's corrected.

See table 7-1, page 98: http://www.bcgtrans.com/wp-content/uplo ... -24-10.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JDC]

What worries me is the speed restriction in place between L'Enfant and Pentagon, including over almost all of the Yellow line bridge. Shouldn't track issues have been spotted during the yearly (this past spring, I believe) inspection of the bridge? Or, is that just for the piers and structural components?