New safety commission report revives questions about Metrorail operator certification

WASHINGTON — DC Metrorail instructors did not provide key lessons during training and certified at least one operator who wasn’t tested on crucial safety functions, according to a report from the independent agency that oversees Metrorail safety.

The Washington Post reports the information was presented at a Tuesday meeting of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission and raised new concerns about Metrorail certification, after a major controversy last year when it was discovered about half of the agency’s rail operators were not properly certified.

Meanwhile, WTOP Radio reports the safety commission released new details about a December 2022 incident in which a operator was arrested for running a train while intoxicated, saying he had been at the controls of the train for hours.

The latest training issue was revealed after a Feb. 9 incident when an operator moved a train against the flow of rail traffic while a report of smoke was being investigated, without permission from Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center and without use of a system to prevent collisions. During investigation of that incident, inspectors discovered the operator had been certified despite not receiving required retraining after failing a test, instead retaking the test the same day. The testing also did not cover how to operate the train ventilation system, which would be important during a fire.

Metrorail training came under scrutiny in May of last year when it was discovered nearly half the system’s train operators had not received required recertification training, leading more than 72 operators to be removed from service and triggering service delays [see “DC Metrorail removes operators from service …,” Trains News Wire, May 17, 2022]. That failure led to the resignation of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld and Chief Operating Officer Joseph Leader [see “Top DC Metro officials resign …,” News Wire, May 18, 2022].

Safety Commission member Richard Lauby made it clear he considered the new problems unacceptable, the Post reported, saying, ““After the history of problems with certification, I would expect that this would be one area that they would get right, and apparently they’re still not paying attention — proper attention — to this.”

Supervisor did not react to operator’s erratic performance

The Dec. 23, 2022 incident with the intoxicated operator [see “DC metrorail operator arrested …,” News Wire, Jan 5, 2023] began with the individual arriving about 2½ hours late for the second part of a split shift. A supervisor was on board as the operator began his first run about 20 minutes after arriving and did not take any action even though the operator stopped short of the platform at several stations.

After about an hour, the operator briefly went inside a break room at the Downtown Largo station; a review of security video shows him “displaying signs of impairment … swaying and not walking in a straight line,” Natalie Quiroz, a safety commission investigations analyst, told Tuesday’s meeting. In time, the operator’s performance became more erratic, to the point where the train stopped between two stations for 40 minutes and the operator did not respond to radio communications.

With stranded passengers calling 911 and another train instructed to find out what was happening, the operator finally stirred and brought the train into the next station, Franconia Springfield, where transit police and other Metro personnel stopped him before he could depart again. He was arrested, recorded a .081 blood alcohol level in a subsequent breath test, and was later fired.

Metrorail has subsequently introduced a procedure to determine employees’ fitness for duty when they arrive for the second half of a split shift.