D.C Metro crash. 4 dead.

[Comm Cody]

I was looking on yahoo and found this.

WASHINGTON – One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of Washington's Monday evening rush hour, killing at least four people and injuring scores of others as cars of the trailing train jackknifed into the air and fell atop the first.
District of Columbia fire spokesman Alan Etter said crews were cutting apart the trains to get people out in what he described as a "mass casualty event." Rescue workers propped steel ladders up to the upper train cars to help survivors escape. Seats from the smashed cars had spilled out onto the track.
D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said four were dead and many more hurt. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said rescue workers had treated 70 people at the scene and sent some of them to local hospitals, two with life-threatening injuries. A Metro official the dead included the female operator of the trailing train. Her name was not immediately released.
The crash around 5 p.m. EDT took place on the system's red line, Metro's busiest, which runs below ground for much of its length but is at ground level at the site near the Maryland border.
Metro chief John Cato said the first train was stopped on the tracks, waiting for another to clear the station ahead, when the trailing train plowed into it from behind. Officials had no explanation for the accident.
Passenger Jodie Wickett, a nurse, told CNN she was seated on one train, sending text messages on her phone, when she felt the impact. She said she texted someone that it felt like the train had hit a bump.
"From that point on, it happened so fast, I flew out of the seat and hit my head." Wickett said she stayed at the scene and tried to help. She said "people are just in very bad shape."
"The people that were hurt, the ones that could speak, were calling back as we called out to them," she said. "Lots of people were upset and crying, but there were no screams."
One man said he was riding a bicycle across a bridge over the Metro tracks when the sound of the collision got his attention.
"I didn't see any panic," Barry Student said. "The whole situation was so surreal."
Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said less than two hours after the crash that federal authorities had no indication of any terrorism connection.
Metro general manager John Catoe said at least 60 people had been taken off the trains.
"I don't know the reason for this accident," he said. "I would still say the system is safe, but we've had an incident."
The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were customer fatalities was in January 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metro stations underneath downtown.

Well looking at the last paragraph this could screw the reputation of the D.C Metro. But still 2 wrecks in 33 years is amazing.

[Kevo00]

This is pretty severe. 9 people dead now. Condolences to the families.

Sounds like it could have been a signal failure, but its a surprise that there could be such a bad crash on the DC Metro which is known for its high standards. Looks like the US will have to review its rail safety standards - its not long since the Metrolink crash in LA.

[JamieLei]

Compared the the UK, I was under the impression train diving standards are fairly lax in the US. The banning of using mobile phones in the cab surprised me that it was permitted before the Metrolink crash, and there's even evidence of drivers participating in the "Annual Mooning of Amtrak" which was quite dangerous since who's then watching the line for those 10 seconds or so. From what I know, UK drivers are not allowed to have any phones, music, unauthorised passengers (no matter how hard the crank whines) and no cab doors open while driving (unlike in the past). There are also strict standards regarding the performance of driving such as disqualification points for overruns, fail-to-calls and speeding.

But an awful accident that shouldn't have happened. It's little comfort when we're bombarded by news of rail disaster but statistically they are extremely rare compared to road accidents...

Edit: Thank God the two trains involved were running against the peak flow so fatalities and were minimised. Link from RailNews.

[Comm Cody]

Well it apeares that one of the trains was scedriled for retirement. so there one of the freaking causes.

[Dave]

Well it apeares that one of the trains was scedriled for retirement. so there one of the freaking causes.

What a load of bollocks.

[Comm Cody]

Well in the La-la land of Yankee Gov officals they they tend to penny pinch stuff for there own profits.

[JamieLei]

"This train is due for retirement, so let's plough another perfectly good one into it and kill a dozen commuters". I really don't think that's the reason somehow.

Whether or not a train is scheduled for retirement has no difference on how well the safety equipment works. If it doesn't work 100% no matter how old the train is, it shouldn't be allowed out.

Thenagain I'm speaking from the UK with impeccably high safety standards, compared to A LOT of the rest of the world.

[Kevo00]

Yeah, I can't believe they would stop maintaining a train just because it was about to be retired.

[Railwaymodeler]

Oh, I don't know: Metra Rail let some of their old Pullman Standard double deck coaches get pretty bad up before retirement. Door issues on a few were main safety concerns.

So far as transit in general, from my observations, Pace Bus's 2300 series Orion CityCruiser buses are unsafe. Bus 2335 has a brake issue, where sometimes if you hit the brakes hard, they become less responsive, 2337's rear door could be pushed open with one finger for a loooooong time, before it was finally fixed. 2331 was called old smokey because it smoked like a steam locomotive- then upon retirement it's engine was put in 2329, which then leaked diesel into the passenger section so bad it was withdrawn halfway through it's maiden run with the new engine, and everyone REFUSED to drive it, forcing them to junk it.

But 2335 and 2337 are still on the road, and really, are unsafe. These buses are from 1993 and they keep wanting to retire and replace them, but still use them because of financial concerns.

Still, older equipment is more prone to failures generally, and that might have been a factor.

[ostlandr]

Looks like it was a signal failure. Investigations have found an intermittent fault in the detection circuit where the stopped train was sitting. Near as anybody can figure, the automatic system decided there was no train in front and started the train. The operator hit the emergency brake when she saw the stopped train, but not in time to stop. There is also some speculation that the automatic system failed to disengage when she hit the emergency brake (assuming it was designed to.) This is evidenced by the fact that there were marks on the rail consistent with heavy braking, but the marks only extended 125 feet, and ended abruptly 425 feet before the crash. I'm thinking the driver panicked and didn't disengage the automatic system, whether or not it was supposed to do so automatically. Going into emergency with the traction motors at full power wouldn't slow the train much, but would overheat the brakes really fast. And if the train brakes were worn- not to the point of being unsafe, but just before the point of requiring replacement- that would be another factor in not being able to stop.

[SHADOW-XIII]

I am suprised, thought metro/underground was pretty fail safe ... No automatic brakes worked ? Driver was sleeping ? or maybe speed was too high to brake before crashing ?

JamieLei: I wanted to mention that UK tube was near-crash at least twice or three times since 2004, luckily drivers were able to stop trains before any disaster could happen

[JamieLei]

If this happened on the railways there'd be national media coverage. Just shows the bias against railway accidents...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8134418.stm