WASHINGTON — The leadership of the U.S. Senate committee responsible for transit policy has asked the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for detailed information on the wheelset defect that has sidelined the majority of the DC Metrorail car fleet.
The Washington Post reports Sens. Sharrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), the chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, wrote in a letter that they want to know what steps WMATA and manufacturers of the equipment took to address the problem with shifting wheels “in furtherance of our oversight responsibilities.”
The letter requested a response from Metrorail officials by Jan. 7. A spokeswoman said the agency was reviewing the letter.
The Senate inquiry joins investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission into the wheel problem on the Kawasaki-built 7000-series railcars. The problems were first discovered in 2017, but became public after an October derailment that led Metro to pull the 748 cars in the 7000 series from service [see “Metrorail car in Arlington derailment …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 19, 2021]. Those cars make up 60% of the Metrorail fleet, and have left Metrorail operating at reduced frequency since mid-October.
Not enough investigations. We need to hire more bureaucrats.