Metro Names New Rail Chief
Officials Promise To Improve Subway Service

By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 17, 2007

Metro executives named a new rail chief and fired a senior manager yesterday in the first of a series of steps intended to improve the reliability of the nation's second-

busiest subway system, agency officials said.

"I'm not satisfied that the energy and the focus and the commitment has been there to fix the issues that we have," General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. said.

The move comes at a time when customer complaints about train delays, especially on the Red Line, which has the most riders, have soared. Yesterday's announcement also follows a week of public hearings about the largest increases the Metro board has ever proposed for rail fares and parking fees. One hundred and fifty riders spoke out against the increases at six hearings this week, saying that Metro should not expect customers to pay more until it provides better service.

Catoe, who attended three hearings and regularly rides the buses and trains, said he understood and agreed.

"There have been far too many delays over the past few months, many of them caused by something as simple as trash catching fire on the tracks," he said in a message sent to all transit employees yesterday. "These are things that are preventable, and if we can prevent it, we need to. . . . The fact is, our customers should be getting better service."

From Aug. 1 to Nov. 15, the number of complaints about train delays doubled to 600 from about 300 for the same period last year, Catoe noted. "That represents a real problem," he said.

Catoe has been particularly unhappy with what he said was the lack of an "aggressive campaign" to replace aging track components, such as insulators and bolts. The components are connected to the electric third rail and can overheat, causing the surrounding rubber coating to smoke and burn. The system has more than 1 million insulators and bolts, officials said. Some of the smoke and fire incidents that crippled much of the system for two nights in late August were caused by worn insulators and bolts.

According to a Washington Post analysis, there were 38 service disruptions in the last two and a half months that were caused by reports of smoke or fire, more than four times the number in the same period last year.

Overall, the subway system had 826 service problems this fall, a 37 percent increase over last fall, even as the agency had more new rail cars to put out on the tracks. The Red Line had the most disruptions, 282, according to Metro statistics. That is 34 percent of the total.

Systemwide, mechanical problems with train doors, brakes and propulsion accounted for 40 percent of service disruptions.

Metro named Dave J. Kubicek to be assistant general manager for rail. He will be responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the 106-mile system, which has 86 stations and over 1,000 rail cars.

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.