WASHINGTON — The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has submitted a testing plan for returning its 7000-series Metrorail cars to operation to address its current equipment shortage.
The Washington Post reports the plan submitted to the independent Washington Metrorail Safety Commission would call for checking the cars every eight days for a wheel defect that led to an Oct. 12 derailment but has been an issue for the Kawasaki-built cars since 2017. Removal from service of the 748 cars in the 7000 series, which comprise more than half the Metrorail fleet, led to a situation which forced a dramatic cutback in rail operations because of a shortage of equipment. The reduced schedule is now expected to last through at least Nov. 15 [see “DC Metrorail service reductions to continue …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 29, 2021].
Investigators believe the wheel problem, which sees wheels shift on their axles, only occurs with time and mileage. Metro has calculated a 10-day period is the “reasonable worst-case” scenario in which enough usage could cause the problem, and added a factor of 205 to determine the inspection interval.
The agency is proposing testing two trainsets for 12 days to simulate service conditions; if those results match projections, Metro would submit a final plan including testing processes.
What’s the final remedy? Testing all cars every 8 to 10 days isn’t a fix, just a temporary remedy to get the fleet back in service.
Wheel defect? Previous entries on this problem say it’s an axle defect. Do they know which it is after almost a month?