DC Metro must complete urgent repairs before starting rehab effort

Washington’s Metrorail system must immediately address three track areas in urgent need of repair before it can begin a massive new rehabilitation effort next month, a federal transit agency warned on Wednesday.

{mosads}The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is directing Metro to prioritize work on three segments on its rail line “where urgent repairs are required to reduce the risk of smoke and fire” before rolling out a year-long track work maintenance plan, which officials unveiled last Friday and is slated to begin in June.

FTA assumed temporary oversight of Metro in the fall until the local jurisdictions come up with a permanent oversight body.

The three subway locations at issue are:

•    Medical Center to Van Ness on the Red line
•    Potomac Avenue to the D&G junction on the Blue/Orange/Silver line
•    Ballston-MU to East Falls Church on the Orange/Silver line

FTA wants the transit agency to clean drains, remove debris, inspect power cables and replace insulators in the first two areas, while focusing on the power electrification system in the third.

The latest FTA letter expands on a safety directive that was issued over the weekend following a track explosion near the platform at the Federal Center Southwest stop Thursday morning. A debris fire later in the day caused officials to close the station for the rest of the evening.

The agency said it has monitored 15 events on Metro since April 23, including nine events involving smoke and fire. FTA acknowledged that a large chunk of the urgent repairs have already been completed but said the recent smoke and fire incidents illustrate that the work needs to be expanded.

FTA, which is an agency within the Department of Transportation (DOT), is stepping up its oversight following an onslaught of criticism that the agency is not equipped to oversee Metro because it cannot issue fines or enforce regulations.

DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx told reporters during a sit-down on Tuesday that FTA inspectors were denied access to Metro’s tracks for hours last week.

Foxx emphasized that his department is not afraid to withhold funds or shutter Metro if FTA’s safety recommendations are not followed. In last year’s surface transportation bill, the department was given legal authority to shut down public transit systems if there is a substantial risk of death or injury.

“If we continue to find that the culture of the system gets in the way of our work, I will have no hesitation to shut down the system,” Foxx said.