D.C. Metro Pauses 7000-Series Railcar Ramp Up

D.C. Metro’s GM/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld paused the return of additional 7000-series railcars to passenger service, ordering a new regime of daily 7000-series inspections.

Although there are no new issues of concern, the Chief Safety Officer and COO met with the Transportation Technology Center Inc. — the independent consultant Metro hired to help with its root cause analysis following the derailment — and Metro officials concluded in an abundance of caution that moving to a nightly inspection of 7000-series railcars is the prudent course of action.

Metro notified National Transportation Safety Board and Washington Metrorail Safety Commission of the updates to its 7000-series restoration plan.

“While I recognize the pause is unexpected, we are going to continuously evaluate data we are collecting to ensure that we are enhancing safety,” Wiedefeld said. “I feel that requiring a daily inspection is the safest course until we know more and our experts have an opportunity to review the data we are collecting with the few trainsets now in operation.”