Metro Names New Rail Chief

Kubicek, who worked with Catoe and Deputy General Manager Gerald Francis at the Los Angeles transit authority, was hired by Metro in May as the chief mechanical officer, in charge of rail car engineering and maintenance, quality assurance, training and procurement. After rail chief Steve Feil left for a top job with New York's subway, it was widely expected that Kubicek would replace him.

In a statement, Kubicek said he was committed to increasing rail service by adding more eight-car trains during rush hours, to improving the cleanliness of the system, and to reducing the number of track and debris fires.

As part of the restructuring of rail operations, Metro also is creating a new managing director position. That person, who will report to Kubicek, will oversee the Operations Control Center, which controls all train movements, and the individual subway line managers. The different subway line managers also are being given additional responsibility.

"We're looking for ways to improve accountability," Francis said.

Metro fired the senior manager in charge of track structures and system maintenance, and other personnel changes are likely, officials said. Francis met this week with top and mid-level managers in the rail operations department, which employs about 4,000 people, to put them on notice that front-line employees need to do a better job.

In addition, Metro personnel are increasing daily inspections of insulators and using thermal imaging tests on the rails to locate defects.

Francis also said all rail personnel, not just maintenance crews, will be taking greater responsibility for keeping stations and tracks clear of debris and newspapers.

Research director Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report.