More News

Maryland's congressional delegation is scheduled to meet today with the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which issued a scathing report this week on an "anemic safety culture" that contributed to last year's deadly Metro crash.

NTSB Chairwoman Deborah A.P. Hersman recommended the federal government provide oversight for public transit systems the way it does for railroad systems through the Federal Railroad Administration.

The board announced Tuesday that the failure of the automatic train-control system caused the June 22, 2009, crash that killed nine people near the Fort Totten Metro station, but that a history of ignoring safety problems contributed to the system's deadliest crash.

"The layers of safety deficiencies uncovered in this investigation are troubling and reveal systemic failures," Hersman said. "Metro was on a collision course long before this accident happened."

Among the board's 23 recommendations was that the Federal Transit Administration be given oversight of safety on public transit subway systems to ensure problems are fixed.

Hersman said it does not make sense that the federal government has oversight of the rail tracks that run alongside the Metro tracks, but not of Metro and other transit systems.

Metro officials were "tone-deaf" to the lessons learned from past crashes and failed to follow through on earlier recommendations, Hersman said.

"They are not hearing it, they are not getting it and they are not addressing the problems," she said. "Our frustration is that if they don't listen this time, I am not sure what can be done."

U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington agreed Congress should pass legislation to give the Federal Transit Administration oversight authority over Metro and other transit systems.

"This report clearly shows that last year's accident was both a technical and organizational failure at an agency where safety was not the priority it should have been," Van Hollen said. "We cannot and will not accept a continuation of the failures that led to last year's terrible tragedy."

Metro carries more than 600,000 passengers daily and is generally safer than the highways, Hersman said. The 13 deaths in Metro's 34-year history are comparable to the tally every two weeks on the region's highways, she said.

But the board hammered Metro for failing to provide enough testing of track signals and for not replacing aging 1000 Series cars that did not afford collision protection.

"It is critically important that the millions of individuals who use Metro every day — be they area residents or visitors from around the world — have confidence in the safety of the system," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Dist. 5) of Mechanicsville, who organized today's meeting with Hersman for regional congressional members.

"I am committed to working with my colleagues and the local jurisdictions to ensure that Metro takes action on the NTSB's recommendations and will continue to work to ensure it has the resources to do so."

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D) of Baltimore has introduced a transportation funding bill for Metro that requires Metro officials to make quarterly reports to Congress measuring safety improvements. The bill also calls for $5 million to establish a Federal Transit Administration Office of Safety to develop new safety regulations for transit systems nationally.

"We won't tolerate a system that does not place safety as its top priority," Mikulski said.

Maryland Transit Administration spokesman David Clark said the department had not issued a statement on the possibility of federal oversight of the transit systems. The MTA operates the Baltimore subway system and is part of the Tri-state Oversight Committee, which oversees safety on Metro.

Metro has overhauled its safety program and has taken dozens of actions to build a strong safety culture at the transit agency, Metro officials said.

"Just as we have worked proactively and cooperatively with the NTSB to implement recommendations during the last year in advance of the NTSB's final findings, we stand ready to continue to work with them to build on our progress to date," said Metro interim general manager Richard Sarles in a statement.

"We have begun to see the beginning of a safety culture shift from one that was reactive to one that is proactive in taking steps to solve and correct issues so that issues don't become problems."