Metro lays out early plan for reincorporating suspended series of trains

[IronLionZion]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/09/dc-metro-trains-ntsb-investigation/



Metro plans to reintegrate its suspended line of trains gradually — by slowly replacing older models with 7000-series cars that will decrease wait times to less than 15 minutes — after the agency gets permission to begin using them again.

The early plan, presented Thursday at Metro’s board meeting, marked the first time Metro officials have publicly said how they will reincorporate more than half of the agency’s suspended rail-car fleet. The return would ease a train shortage that has hobbled the region and frustrated transit riders for two months.

As the agency formulates an exit strategy from its largest crisis in six years, Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said Thursday that he does not know when the suspended cars will be reinstated by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. The watchdog agency ordered all 748 cars in the series out of service in October after a National Transportation Safety Board investigation discovered a dangerous wheelset defect in several cars.

“We hope to know more about the timing of the return before the Christmas holiday, but all steps in the process must be satisfied to proceed forward,” Wiedefeld said.

It's disappointing that they still don't know what's causing the wheel widening problem.

I took metro on Monday and it wasn't too crowded and the wait is manageable if you check train times on a transit app. Good that the repairs happened while many folks are still working remote.

[IronLionZion]

1. Senate committee seeks records on Metro's defective railcar wheel assemblies

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/10/metro-letter-derailment-investigation/

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.), the chairman and ranking GOP member on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said in a letter that they want to understand what steps Metro and the manufacturers of the cars and wheel parts took after problems with wheels shifting on their axles first were identified.

The committee is responsible for federal transit policy, and the senators said they were seeking the information “in furtherance of our oversight responsibilities.”

Metro officials didn’t immediately comment Friday on the letter.

The problems with the wheel assembly caused a train operating on the Blue Line to derail in October, leading safety regulators to order all 748 of the 7000-series cars out from service. Emergency inspections revealed the defect, which involves wheels shifting outward, had affected 20 axles and appeared to get progressively worse over time.