WASHINGTON — More than three years after the Federal Transit Administration took the unprecedented step of assuming direct safety oversight of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Metrorail system, the FTA has returned supervision back to local control.
The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, an independent body established by Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in 2017, was certified yesterday by the FTA, freeing up $48.5 million in federal grants that had been withheld. The announcement comes ahead of the April 15, 2019, deadline that requires states with federally funded rail transit systems to establish a congressionally-mandated independent state safety oversight agency.
In October 2015, the FTA stepped in following a spate of problems on Metrorail that included a derailment, smoke-filled trains, and frequent delays. On March 16, 2015, the entire system was shut down for critical safety repairs. And last September, the safety commission submitted its plan for oversight of the Metro system [see “Safety plan for DC subway system submitted to FTA,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 12, 2018.]
Since then, the FTA says it has verified that Metrorail implemented 188 safety improvements and made progress on dozens of others. Chuck Bean, executive director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, which provides support to the safety commission, said in a statement that the FTA announcement “is an exciting milestone moment for our metropolitan Washington region.”
The FTA also announced that it has certified state safety oversight programs in 30 states, meeting the April 15 deadline and qualifying those agencies to receive federal transit grants and funds.
