WASHINGTON 鈥斅燗fter exposing with Metro earlier this week, the head of the Federal Transit Administration said Thursday that the transit agency has even more issues to address with the subway.
鈥淚 believe they鈥檙e going to be extending the surges to address more problems. Right now we鈥檙e just focused on the track issues under the , but there鈥檚 more that they have to do,鈥� FTA acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers said on WTOP.
While the FTA has the authority as Metro鈥檚 temporary oversight agency to withhold federal funding or to direct shutdowns of parts of the system, Flowers said she believes 鈥渢hings are turning around鈥� to some degree.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working with them on a daily basis to ensure that things don鈥檛 get worse,鈥� Flowers said.
鈥淚f there was any issues with a substantial risk of personal injury to passengers or workers, we would take action.鈥�
Since a nearly two weeks ago that sent one person to the hospital with a head injury, Metro has promised to actually conduct the inspections it is supposed to do.
Those new inspections uncovered a variety of problems that need to be addressed, including problems at six interlockings where trains move from one track to the other.
Metro plans to for each of those areas, beginning with a shutdown on the between Grosvenor-Strathmore and Shady Grove for repairs at Twinbrook.
鈥淢etrorail is moving towards a more safe and reliable system. They have made positive changes, I think that they鈥檙e not immediately obvious, but under the new leadership there, they鈥檙e attacking some of these problems,鈥� Flowers said.
In November, Paul Wiedefeld took over as general manager of the troubled transit agency and hired several new senior staff members in the last few months.
He acknowledges that Metro鈥檚 overall top-to-bottom focus on safety is not where it should be.
This week’s on track inspection and maintenance found 聽a number of problems, including the following:
- Understaffing;
- Workers who did not know how to do their jobs;
- Basic safety issues not being addressed;
- Inspection reports that were not followed up to prioritize repairs.
