WASHINGTON — The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission has given permission for Metrorail to increase the interval on inspections of its 7000-series cars from four to seven days, setting the stage for more of the long-sidelined cars to return to operation, the Washington Post reports.
Friday’s announcement came after the commission had initially said it would not approve the less-frequent inspections. That led the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to say it needed some form of mediation to resolve ongoing differences with the independent safety organization [see “DC Metro calls for mediation …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 17, 2023].
A spokesman for the commission, Max Smith, told the Post that the change followed a further review of data provided by Metro about its inspection plans. The inspections are to check for wheel issues that caused a derailment in October 2021, leading to the sidelining of the Kawasaki-built cars, which comprise about 60% of the Metrorail fleet. A small number of those cars have been returned to service, but the absence of most of the cars has kept Metrorail service from being restored to regular levels.
