Speak Out: Metro Safety

The group charged with tracking and analyzing the safety of Metrorail told the system's board this week there were no serious concerns about its safety operations and communication with its directors “has improved dramatically” in the past few years.

The Tri-State Oversight Committee said in its quarterly report this week it had gained confidence in the system, the Washington Post reported Friday. TOC officials said they had much better access to Metro documents and better faith in its safety practice then they did in the aftermath of a deadly 2009 Red Line crash.

The relationship between TOC and Metro thereafter can be described as rocky at best: Metro blocked the TOC from documents and banned its safety monitors from its tracks. Today, the report said, Metro employees are cooperative and forthcoming with information. And though problems — like falling brake parts and cracked rails — remain, the TOC said “the issues today are troubleshooting rather than system-wide concerns,” the Post reported.

In response to the TOC report, Metro's board still expressed concern about the installation of a new automatic train-control system: Operators have run trains in manual mode since the crash, which was caused by a failure of the former system, the Post said.

The TOC still cannot enforce safety recommendations on the Metro system; some have pressured lawmakers to create Federal oversight.

You Tell Us: Do you think Metro safety and communication has improved, or, are you still concerned about the system and think Metro still has a long way to go? Speak out in the comments.

For the full Post story, click here.