Officials from Metro’s newly minted safety oversight board said they are looking into an incident in which two Metrorail cars came apart as they were being moved to a storage track behind the Wiehle-Reston East station late Monday.
The first two cars of a six-car train became uncoupled while the train was moving last night outside Wiehle-Reston East. “Uncoupling” means cars were separated from the rest of the train. The WMSC is now actively overseeing an investigation and seeking answers. #wmata
— Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (@MetrorailSafety) April 16, 2019
Metro officials said that the train was not in service and that no injuries were reported. Metro officials said the train was taken out of service.
The commission, which met for the first time April 8, is also looking into several instances in which trains were misrouted. In August, a Springfield-bound Blue Line train ended up at the Court House station, on the Orange and Silver lines, after it took the wrong route.
ICYMI, the WMSC had its first public meeting Monday since certification, and a key item the WMSC discussed was ordering an investigation into recent misrouted trains and operational issues involving the Orange, Blue & Silver Lines. WMSC continues to work w/WMATA seeking answers. https://t.co/tSDIBv6r5J
— Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (@MetrorailSafety) April 12, 2019
The WMSC is chaired by Christopher Hart, a former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. It was created to take the place of Metro’s previous oversight board, the Tri-State Oversight Committee, which was largely considered so ineffective at overseeing safety in the Metro system that federal officials took over the responsibility.
It is made up of safety experts appointed by the District, Maryland and Virginia and has more authority to investigate issues at Metro.