The Metro is dangerous as hell. Their equipment is falling apart and track maintenance is terrible. Their employees are largely incompetent affirmative action hires who don’t give a flip about customer service, and they run their trains WAY too fast around corners. The whole system is an accident waiting to happen. Horrible, horrible tragedy that could have been avoided.
“...they run their trains WAY too fast around corners.”
We were in DC a few years ago and I can vouch for that observation. I hated riding that thing..although I was impressed with how clean it was.
I have to agree with Karma Police about the employees. From what I have seen so far, BOTH trains were heading south INTO DC, thus they weren’t as crowded as outbound trains. That line loops into DC and then heads up towards Rockville. The distant between the loops is only about 5 to 10 miles..Most rush hour heading out of DC, either towards Rockville(one side of the loop) or toward Silver Spring(other side of the loop) would be packed. Horrible to have that happen and I’m wondering if all the rain we’ve had lately has undermined the railroad ties to cause the derailment. Sorry if this info is being repeated.
(Oh, and by the way, off-topic, during the election there were many, many Metro employees and operators wearing “Obama” buttons while “working.” A clear violation of policy, reported, but ignored by Metro HQ.)