DC Metro pulling 60% of fleet for Blue Line derailment investigation

Washington Examiner ^ | 10/17/21 | Daniel Chaitin

[Libloather]

D.C. Metro is pulling more than half its fleet of railcars on Monday for an investigation into a derailment on the Blue Line last week.

The official Twitter account for Metro issued an announcement late Sunday, as people head to bed before what is sure to be a rough commute for some to start the week.

"ALERT: As part of the investigation into the Blue Line derailment, Metro is holding out of service all of its 7000-series railcars, which is about 60% of its rail fleet. Without these rail cars, Metro will operate about 40 trains tomorrow," Metro said in a tweet thread. "This will allow only a basic service pattern on all lines, departing about every 30 minutes."

Metro said it is working closely with the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission and National Transportation Safety Board, and will update the public about service for the remainder of the week when more information is available.

A Metro train partially derailed near Arlington National Cemetery in Northern Virginia, causing delays on the Blue Line on Tuesday. Metro officials said hundreds of people were on the train, many of whom were evacuated, and one person was taken to hospital as a precaution for issues related to anxiety, according to the Washington Post.

[Libloather]

Could be covid related.

[Greg123456]

We require the drivers be vaxxed and they keep dropping like flies. Let’s make up a tale about derailment.

[mikey_hates_everything]

Nah, that basket case of a transit system has had problems way before COVID. But 60% out of service? Lol!

[Fresh Wind]

This works in Japan, why not DC?

[MattMusson]

The majority of derailments that are not for excessive speed in curves, are because of poor track maintenance.

That is why we don’t have high speed rail in the USA. The track tolerances for HSR must be exact. The Japanese maintain ever foot of rail every day for their bullet trains.

[KingLudd]

Hardly anyone is riding Metro so it’s no big deal.

[Nifty]

The majority of derailments that are not for excessive speed in curves, are because of poor track maintenance.


It's this. I lived in DC for a year and road the metro quite often. Every other week, there seemed to be always some type of repair or something going on, something was closed, etc. My guess is now, they've fallen behind applying duct tape everywhere and stuff is starting to break.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Maglev would help in eliminating rail contact.