The transit agency’s top two leaders departed Sunday after a training lapse involving about half of its train operators.
Andrew Off, Metro’s senior vice president for capital projects and a former assistant general manager, began his temporary role leading 12,000 employees by meeting with Metro leaders and receiving updates on key safety issues, Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said. He also spoke with Metro Board Chairman Paul C. Smedberg about transitioning leadership to Randy Clarke, the chief executive of Austin’s public transit system who will become general manager later this summer.
“We are determined not to miss a step, and everyone I have spoken to externally and internally today has offered their support and assistance,” he said. Almost immediately in his newest role, Off was confronted Tuesday morning with more damaging news. The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, the regulatory agency that discovered the lapses in recertification, releasedthat restricts how Metro shifts track power on and off. The commission said it found too many instances in which power was turned on without Metro ensuring that workers weren’t on the track — posing an elevated risk for electrocution or other hazards.
“In each instance, the [commission] explained to [Metro] the safety deficiencies and the serious risk to Metrorail personnel, has required immediate safety improvements, and has provided [Metro] with the opportunity to protect the safety of its personnel through long-term changes,” the commission’s order said. “However, Metrorail has yet to effectively provide for that safety, and continues to ignore processes and procedures that Metrorail intended to make the system safer.
The safety order is another admonishment for a transit agency that has gone through upheaval since mid-October, when 60 percent of its rail cars were suspended because of a safety defect uncovered during a federal investigation into a derailment. The suspension of Metro’s 7000-series cars brought a train shortage that has resulted in long waits as the region is recovering from the pandemic and as Metro is desperately seeking to recover riders and fare revenue.
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