DC Metro Crash: Not old trains but failed signals

In a rush to demand more tax dollars for transit systems, federal officials and lobbyists were quick to blame the supposed aging rail cars for the June 22, 2009 crash that killed 9 and injured over 100. On closer examination though it appears the track sensor system was not working on the particular section of track where the stationary train was standing, failing to send a braking signal to the moving train. The operator DC Metro has taken the trains off the failed automatic system and taken action against the head of signals.

As UPI reported on June 26, 2009:

Deron Lovass, Natural Resources Defense Council federal transportation director, said the collision of two D.C. Metro rail cars is evidence of how little funding has been spent upgrading the country's transit system compared with U.S. highways, Time magazine reported online Friday. "This does draw attention to the fact that we need to invest a lot more in our transit system," Lovass said. "Our highway system is world class, but we've neglected public transit along the same way."

The Federal Transit Administration tabbed more than a third of the equipment used by the top U.S. rail transit agencies with either marginal or poor ratings this spring, Time reported.

Federal officials said one of the rail cars involved in Monday's deadly collision in Washington did not have modernized equipment that could have prevented the accident.

"The Metro, like most of our larger public-transit systems, has suffered from a lack of public resources," David Goldberg, Transportation for America communications director, told Time.

From the Washington Post June 26, 2009:

A train control system that should have prevented Monday's deadly Metro crash failed in a test conducted by federal investigators, officials said yesterday, suggesting that a crucial breakdown of technology sent one train slamming into another.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board performed the simulation Wednesday night. In the test, investigators positioned a train in the same location as the train that was rear-ended Monday. The system failed to detect that the idled test train was there, the NTSB said.