LATEST NEWS

May 15, 2012

At 9:41 am this morning, TOC was notified by WMATA safety staff of an incident near the Van Ness Red Line station in which some of the doors on a train set opened during movement. While it is fortunate that no one was hurt, TOC program standards clearly identify this as an unacceptable hazardous condition. In response, TOC has met with WMATA safety and operations staff in an effort to pinpoint the root cause of the failure, and will participate actively in their ongoing investigation. During this process, TOC will work to ensure WMATA's compliance with the requirements of its hazard management program, and will evaluate proposed corrective action plans as they are developed.

April 24, 2012

At approximately 7:15pm, TOC was notified of a derailment outside the Rosslyn Metro station. TOC personnel from Virginia and the District of Columbia responded to the scene to monitor and support WMATA's investigation, which at this time is still underway. TOC will work with WMATA to ascertain the root cause(s) of the incident and to develop corrective actions as appropriate.

April 20, 2012

On April 16, 2012, a Metrorail passenger suffered an apparent heart attack aboard a train, and despite the aid of bystanders and the Arlington County Fire Department, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. As this was a fatality on Metrorail property, and therefore a reportable incident, WMATA notified TOC through normal channels of communication with the Safety Department and Metro Transit Police.

However, late in the afternoon on April 19, 2012, TOC was advised that during the initial response to this incident, a passenger had attempted to use the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and found its batteries to be non-functioning. Follow-up conversations with senior WMATA Safety staff confirmed these facts. WMATA's immediate response to this situation has been to inspect all AEDs systemwide, expand their deployment, and formulate checklists and procedures for their inspection. The functionality of emergency equipment within Metrorail facilities is of critical importance and with that in mind, the TOC plans to review the proposed inspection procedures and independently evaluate their adequacy.

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