Track Inspectors Struck From Behind
By Lena H. Sun and Jamie Stockwell
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 1, 2006
The third fatal accident involving a Metro worker and one of its trains in a little more than a year brought an unusually harsh rebuke yesterday from federal transportation officials, who called the transit agency's performance "unacceptable."
"When we see three accidents in 13 months, we want to know what happened," said Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, which took over the accident investigation. "That's unacceptable."
A 29-year-veteran of the agency was killed and another worker was critically injured yesterday at 9:33 a.m. when they were hit from behind by an empty Yellow Line train near the Eisenhower Avenue Station in Alexandria.
The workers had been walking the rails looking for cracks, part of a routine inspection done twice a week, Metro officials said. They were walking away from Huntington when Train No. 307, with four rail cars, hit them as it was leaving the station.
The two previous accidents involved similar circumstances of employees working on the tracks being hit and killed by trains. The most recent prompted several changes aimed at improving safety. The three fatalities equal the number of employees killed on the tracks in the agency's first 29 years.
Metro officials said a preliminary investigation showed no violation of safety protocols.
Metro's Operations Control Center knew the two workers were doing inspections, said Steve Feil, Metro's chief operating officer for rail. The workers were wearing safety equipment, including neon-green fluorescent safety vests.
"There was no doubt there was a breakdown," said Feil, who added that Metro will also conduct an investigation.
Yesterday's train had traveled to the end of the Yellow Line at Huntington, then reversed direction on the same track. It was being taken out of service and was heading to the nearby Alexandria rail yard when the accident occurred, Feil said. It stayed on the same track because the other track was closed.
The accident happened near a bend in the stretch of elevated tracks, near I-495, Rosenker said. The train was operating in manual mode, under control of the operator.
During a late-afternoon news conference at the station, Rosenker said he and his team of investigators reacted quickly because of fatal accidents at the Dupont Circle Station in May and at the Braddock Road Station in October 2005.
The NTSB was investigating the Dupont Circle accident, in which Metro employee Jong Won Lee was struck and killed, because it came so soon after the previous one.
Metro tightened safety procedures after the May accident. The new rules require trains to slow to about 15 mph when operators come upon track work sites and employees. Track workers are also required to check in hourly with the operations control center. Dispatchers are then required to notify train operators.
NTSB investigators downloaded information from the train's black box last night to determine how fast the train was traveling, whether its horn was sounded to alert the employees and whether the operator applied the brakes. NTSB officials said they plan to reconstruct the accident today.
The train operator has been a Metro employee since 1999 and in her current position since 2001, Metro officials said. The operator was interviewed by NTSB investigators yesterday and was taken for routine drug and alcohol testing.
Service on the southern end of the Yellow Line was disrupted for 4 1/2 hours, and Metro carried 2,253 passengers on free shuttle buses, agency officials said. Normal service resumed in time for the evening rush.
The employee who was killed, Leslie A. Cherry Jr., 52, of Clinton, had worked for the transit agency for 29 years. Most of his jobs were related to track inspection, spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.
The second employee, whose name and age Metro declined to provide, has been with Metro since April. He was in critical condition at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Metro officials said.
"I want to know how and why it happened," said Leslie Cherry, father of the worker who died. "He's been in the business for 30 years and was one of the safest employees they have." Cherry said his son was married and had two older children.
In October 2005, Michael Waldron, 47, died when he was hit by a train near the Braddock Road Station. An internal investigation of Waldron's death concluded that a supervisor and the train operator failed to follow basic safety rules.
Metro and Amalgamated Transit Workers Union Local 689, which represents about 7,000 of the agency's approximately 10,000 employees, have been working together since the Dupont Circle accident on safety issues.
"We're deeply saddened by what happened," union spokeswoman Jackie Jeter Jones said. "We don't know all the particulars, but we're talking about three employees here -- the operator and the two track people."
Members of the Lee and Waldron families said they were upset after learning of the accident.
"It is so sad," said Jong Pil Lee, whose brother was killed in the Dupont Circle accident. "These workers, they are truly heroes of the common people."
Waldron's widow, Betty Waldron, said the news made her feel sick. "I can't believe they have destroyed another family," she said.
Metro is creating two memorials to honor employees who died on the job and has also established a scholarship fund for children of those employees.
Staff writers Leef Smith, Eric M. Weiss and researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
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