Proposal to Move Oversight from FTA to FRA

[YOLO]

The USDOT is recommending WMATA be placed under FRA control, seeing how useless the Tri-State Oversight Committee is.

This would make it the 2nd subway that would fall under FRA jurisdiction IF this happens for real. What kind of changes would apply to WMATA - any ideas?

[MCL1981]

What would happen if CSX, UP, etc told the FRA "we don't care, we're going do what we want and we'll get to it later."? Because that's been WMATA's response to the spineless oversight they have now.

[srepetsk]

Here is the NTSB's recommendation to DOT: http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs/ ... 31-032.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; w/ summary: http://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases ... 50930.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board today issued two urgent safety recommendations calling for direct federal safety oversight of Washington’s Metrorail system by the Federal Railroad Administration.

In its ongoing investigation into the January 12, 2015, smoke and electrical arcing accident in a tunnel near the L’Enfant Plaza Metro Station in Washington, D.C., the NTSB examined the safety oversight of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s rail operations in an investigative hearing on June 23. The NTSB found little improvement in WMATA’s safety oversight since the 2009 Metrorail accident in Fort Totten that killed nine people.

Testimony at the hearing confirmed that the present oversight body, the Tri-State Oversight Committee (TOC) relies on WMATA to respond to any safety concern, finding or recommendation. The TOC lacks the power to issue orders or levy fines and has no regulatory or enforcement authority.

The Federal Transit Administration, which primarily relies on state safety oversight agencies such as the TOC to fill the oversight role at the state level, has said that the TOC “falls far short” in its role.

“There is now a lack of independent safety oversight of Metrorail,’’ said NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart. “This is an unacceptable gap in system safety.”

In its safety recommendation letter to the Secretary of Transportation, the NTSB said that in the past 33 years, it had launched 11 investigations of WMATA rail accidents that had killed 18 people. Many of those investigations involved WMATA’s inadequate management of safety operations.

The NTSB has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation to seek authority from Congress to designate WMATA a “commuter authority,” so the Federal Railroad Administration can exercise direct safety oversight. The NTSB also asked for DOT to implement a plan to transition oversight from the TOC to the FRA within six months from the date such authority is granted.

The FRA currently regulates passenger, freight and commuter railroads, including seven urban rail systems in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. that have been designated as “commuter authorities.”

Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia proposed last year that a new body replace the TOC. However, even if this new entity were capable of more robust oversight, it could not be stood up for several years, according to a white paper referenced by the jurisdictions.

The NTSB recommends the change in oversight because the FRA, unlike the TOC, has robust regulatory and enforcement powers, allowing it to more effectively address hazards and improve the overall safety of WMATA’s rail operations.

“The FRA has rules today. The TOC has none. The FRA has hundreds of highly trained professional railroad inspectors. The TOC has no inspectors,” said Hart.

While the NTSB believes FRA is positioned to close the safety gap, we look forward to the DOT’s response and their plan to address this urgent safety issue.

The NTSB has designated the safety recommendations as “urgent,” and has asked the Department of Transportation to respond within 30 days detailing the actions it intends to take to address the safety issues outlined in them.

[Jeff Smith]

Due to recent safety issues and perceived need for better oversight: Washington Post

NTSB recommends strengthening federal oversight of Metrorail

Metro’s safety problems are so severe and persistent that federal officials should take a much stronger role in monitoring the subway, reclassifying it as a commuter railroad so that the transit authority and its managers can be subjected to tougher regulations and penalties, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
...
The FTA oversees many forms of public transit, including subways and buses. The NTSB has decided that oversight of Metrorail should be shifted to the Federal Railroad Administration, which focuses strictly on rail modes of transportation and has more rail experts and rail inspectors on its staff than the FTA does, the NTSB said in a Wednesday morning conference call with staff members of the Washington area’s congressional delegation.
...
“Under the current safety oversight structure, the TOC does not have the authority to levy penalties or stop Metrorail revenue service for a track gage problem such as the one that existed for 27 days near the Smithsonian station and resulted in the derailment. Further, the only FTA enforcement action allowed...is withholding funds or directing funds to correct safety conditions,” the NTSB letter says.

[jkovach]

It seems that the other subway under FRA jurisdiction is PATH. From what I understand, this for historical reasons (it was originally part of the Pennsylvania Railroad) and not because PATH was in need of a butt kicking.

FRA has enforcement authority, but practically speaking, their options will be limited. Fines would just result in one part of the government paying another part of the government - or worse, they would have to be paid by passengers out of fare revenue. The only real option FRA would have would be to shut down parts of the railroad. This would certainly get people's attention, but would also result in total commuter chaos. (It might also provide political cover for a big house-cleaning at WMATA...)

This is going to be interesting.

[Sand Box John]

I think the legislative bodies of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia should enact enabling legislation that gives the Tri-State Oversight Committee regulatory powers that have teeth. The enabling legislation would also give the Tri-State Oversight Committee all the tools it needs to do its job.

[Backshophoss]

If Metro is moved over to FRA from FTA oversight control,it could affect the NYCTA,and Chicago's EL and Subway system,
both are larger systems then Metro.

[Backshophoss]

This will need some "action" from the Congress critters,to change the "Law" to allow the change,
a possible "unintended change" could affect the NYCTA and Chicago's EL and subway system,both
much larger then Metro

[SemperFidelis]

As I understand it, PATH is under FRA jurisdiction due to it having a connection to the national rail system at one point along its ROW. The last common piece of trackage i recall was many, many years ago crossing a diamond that was part of a freight branch somewhere just east of Harrison. I seem to recall that connection was taken out many years ago, but I could be wrong.

[Sand Box John]

"Backshophoss"
If Metro is moved over to FRA from FTA oversight control,it could affect the NYCTA,and Chicago's EL and Subway system,
both are larger systems then Metro.

Not necessarily. WMATA is an interstate compact. Interstate compacts can only be established by an act of Congress. WMATA is the only transit agency in the country that is an interstate compact. The language in the FRA enabling act could be written to only apply to interstate compacts.

[schmod]

PATH and PATCO both operate under interstate compacts.

[Sand Box John]

"schmod"
PATH and PATCO both operate under interstate compacts.

True, but both of those agencies are more then just rail transit operators. PATH is part of The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, PATCO began its life as the Delaware River Bridge Commission.

WMATA is a public transit agency only.

[Amtrak7]

I wonder what impact on day to day operations, if any, this transition will have.

For instance, PATH is technically FRA-compliant, operates with a lot of waivers, but must inspect every car on the standard 92-day cycle used by commuter and freight roads among other things. Some have placed partial blame for its abnormally high operating costs on these requirements.

[JDC]

US DOT Secretary Foxx rejected the NTSB proposal to move oversight of Metro to the FRA. Instead, he is committed to improved TOC oversight. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/tr ... story.html

[MCL1981]

It might lead to complications and delays? I think that ship has already sailed. Complications and delays are precisely why they want to shift oversight. Unless things like going up in flames twice, derailing, falling apart, and reducing service to near non-functional levels just this year alone are not what the DOT considers "complications and delays". Instead they want to increase the existing oversight by the states. You mean the existing oversight that has been willfully ignoring the problems for two decades and allowed this to happen in the first place? If you're drowning, the solution isn't to make the pool deeper.