Safety Warnings Often Ignored at Metro

After the derailment, Metro installed a restraining rail along the curve. The metal lip, which is attached to the rail, helps guide trains along sharp turns. But the agency has yet to install another one along a similarly tight bend at the West Falls Church-VT/UVA Station, despite an urgent order to do so in 2003 by Metro's board of directors.

Former deputy general manager James T. Gallagher, who left the agency in March, said it took time to secure the $277,000 needed to manufacture and install the safety device. "It ran into internal buzz saws," he said. "Sometimes even a deputy can't get lunch money."

Nationally, derailments are rare. San Francisco's smaller Bay Area Rapid Transit system, for instance, had three from 2003 through the beginning of this year, and none of the trains had passengers. Metro had eight over the same period, and two of the trains carried passengers, although no one was injured.

Many of the Metro derailments had a common factor: The track was not lubricated. Lubrication helps prevent derailments because the slick surface makes it difficult for train wheels to climb up the rail and pop off-track. As more trains derailed, records show, Metro safety officials repeatedly told the track department to lubricate tight curves.

But the department failed to consistently follow the advice. After a train derailed at the Alexandria rail yard in April 2003, Metro safety investigators concluded that the probable cause was the lack of a restraining rail along the curve and "no lubrication on the tracks." A Metro consultant later wrote that "lubrication alone would significantly decrease a risk of this type of derailment."

Painter said he immediately told workers to lubricate the area, which involves painting grease onto a portion of the rails with a brush, similar to basting a turkey. "I kept asking, 'Are you lubricating?' It got drilled into their heads," Painter said. But over time, the message was forgotten.

"The superintendent retired, the assistant superintendent went to a different location, the maintenance manager went somewhere else, and the guys, when no one told them they needed to keep lubricating, the ball got dropped," Painter said.

A little more than seven months later, another train derailed along the same curve. Investigators cited dry track as a contributing factor.

Experts agree that safety instructions should not rely on word of mouth. But it wasn't until the end of April -- more than a year after safety officials first raised the issue -- that Metro put in place written standards that spell out where and when tracks should be lubricated.

Inspection Problems

The constant force of heavy trains batters subway rails, causing wear and tear. To catch weaknesses that could cause derailments, Metro employs 31 "track walkers." Their inspections cover the 106-mile system twice a week as they hike the tracks in search of flaws.

The agency also hires a contractor to drive ultrasonic machinery over the rails, getting a sonogram-like glimpse inside the steel, where defects that can turn into breaks may first develop.

"What you want to find is potential problems," said Steven A. Feil, chief operating officer for rail. "Breaks are after the fact."