WMSC Audits WMATA’s Railcar Program

(Image Courtesy of WMSC)

An audit of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) maintenance and engineering practices related to its rapid transit cars and associated shop equipment was released by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC) on May 21. While the independent safety oversight and enforcement agency recorded seven findings and made three recommendations, it also reported positive practices at WMATA’s Metrorail system in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.  

According to WMSC, the audit (download report below) was performed through in-depth interviews, site visits, and document and data reviews conducted in August and September 2023, with additional follow up and document review in October, November, and December 2023.

The audit objectives included the assessment of inspection, maintenance, and engineering practices and procedures, and associated training for purposes of compliance with applicable plans, policies, regulations, and industry best practices, WMSC reported. It said the audit also focused on closed Corrective Action Plans (CAP) that were issued as part of the WMSC’s 2021 audit of Metrorail’s railcars and other CAPs related to findings and recommendations from WMSC, the Federal Transit Administration, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). WMSC noted that as the most recent audit report was being drafted in January 2024, the NTSB issued its final report on the investigation into the Oct. 12, 2021 derailment of a 7000 series train on the Blue Line. During that investigation, WMSC said it “issued orders to Metrorail to ensure the safe return to service of each 7000 series railcar,” and that it ”oversaw Metrorail’s development and implementation of associated return to service plans.”

The WMSC audit included seven findings and three recommendations. The findings are that Metrorail:

1. “[I]s not carrying out railcar maintenance and inspection tasks as specified by its procedures.” Minimum corrective action: “Metrorail must ensure railcar maintenance is done in accordance with its procedures and that cars are only released and only put into service if they meet safety requirements for dispatch. Metrorail must also ensure personnel in Railcar Maintenance facilities are following Metrorail personal safety rules and procedures including blue signal/flag protection, use of wheel chocks, electronic device policies, and ergonomic safety requirements.”

2. “[I]s training personnel on outdated procedures.” Minimum corrective action: “Metrorail must establish and implement an effective process to review and update training materials on a regular basis as required, including ensuring that there is communication when relevant procedures are updated, and that those updates are incorporated into all relevant training material.”

3. “[I]s not meeting life-safety and occupational safety and health requirements in railcar maintenance facilities.” According to WMSC, these include “requirements of Metrorail’s hot works program [related to metal grinding], fall protection requirements, and safe crane lifting practices.” Minimum corrective action: “Metrorail must address each of the issues identified in this finding, and develop and implement a proactive program to mitigate the risk of deviations from life-safety and occupational safety and health requirements in railcar maintenance facilities in the future.”

4. “[I]s not identifying and mitigating hazards related to railcars and railcar personnel.” Minimum corrective action: “Metrorail must ensure that it is identifying, prioritizing, and effectively mitigating hazards related to railcars and railcar personnel by implementing its safety management system for these areas as specified in its Agency Safety Plan. Metrorail must also ensure that it identifies and mitigates electrical hazards including those noted in this finding, that it prioritizes work orders in accordance with its requirements, that it reports trains that must be held out of service in a timely fashion, that it communicates and follows a uniform process for trains out of service for an extended period, that there is effective collaboration among organizational units, and that it establishes and implements requirements to secure equipment during transport, specifically re-rail equipment.”

5. “[I]s not following its operational certification requirements for Car Maintenance Road Mechanics.” Minimum corrective action: “Metrorail must develop and implement a process to ensure that CMOR [Office of the Chief Mechanical Officer, Rail] verifies that it only assigns personnel to work as Road Mechanics who have all required current training and certifications.”

6. “[I]is not following industry standard electrostatic discharge protection practices for railcar components.” Minimum corrective action: “Metrorail must establish and implement electrostatic discharge protection procedures for railcar maintenance tasks, including for the handling of circuit boards on service and inspection or heavy repair and overhaul shop floors, in transport, and in electronic shops or other shops.”

7. “[I]s using equipment that is not calibrated in accordance with its policies and procedures, including for inspection and maintenance of components with a direct impact on safety.” Minimum corrective action: “Metrorail must ensure all calibrated equipment is included in its calibration database, that personnel are trained on requirements to ensure use of only properly calibrated equipment, and that supervisors conduct regular oversight of work areas to ensure that equipment that is out of calibration is removed from service and only properly calibrated equipment is in use.”

WMSC reported that it is also recommending that Metrorail “develop and implement a process to ensure railcar-related items that decay over time are identified and that expired items are discarded”; “improve the effectiveness of its maintenance tasks by proactively providing training records to supervisors of employees newly assigned to their shift or location”; and “update its railcar maintenance staffing assessment to account for current facilities, railcars, maintenance requirements, and other operational changes.”

During the audit process, WMSC also identified positive practices. It said that Metrorail “developed under the WMSC’s oversight a digital indicator gauge along with associated procedures for performing accurate back-to-back measurements.” According to WMSC, digital indicator gauges and calibration blocks have been manufactured and are being used, and “have successfully detected railcars with wheelsets beyond Metrorail’s safety requirements, allowing those wheelsets to be removed from service.” Also under this oversight, WMSC said Metrorail “has made upgrades to its Vehicle-Track Interaction systems in place on some 7000 Series railcars to resume system functionality. As part of Metrorail’s return to service plan, due to the WMSC’s oversight, Metrorail is now analyzing Vehicle Track Interaction (VTI) data on a regular basis, leading to actions to improve safety in the system.” WMSC reported that it also observed “the positive practice of safety communications within Car Maintenance via safety alerts (‘CMNT Special Alert’).” It noted, however, that Metrorail “did not have a process for developing, reviewing, and distributing these documents,” but “resolved this issue during the audit by developing such a process.”

Next Steps

WMATA is required to propose CAPs to address each finding and to respond to each recommendation no later than 30 days after the issuance of the WMSC audit report. According to the safety commission, “[e]ach proposed CAP must include specific and achievable planned actions to remediate the deficiency, the person responsible for implementation, and the estimated date of completion.” Additionally, “[e]ach proposed CAP must be approved by the WMSC prior to WMATA implementation” it said. For each recommendation, “WMATA must either propose a CAP or submit a hazard analysis and associated documentation as required by the WMSC Program Standard,” the safety commission reported.