Metro commits to more stringent safety standards to protect track workers

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Transportation

Metro commits to more stringent safety standards to protect track workers

General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld orders new guidelines, citing too many instances of trains near work zones

By Justin George
September 17, 2021 at 9:11 p.m. EDT

Instances of trains operating near Metro track workers have prompted the transit agency to commit to more stringent safety standards that officials say will increase worker protections.

The order issued late Thursday comes after four incidents since August in which trains improperly moved into work zones, which restrict or prohibit train traffic. Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld told Metro workers in a memo that the violations prompted him to review Metro’s rail safety standards manual, simplify it and update it to include higher levels of protection.

Potentially dangerous near-clashes between track workers, trains and other rail vehicles over the past year have increasingly drawn the attention of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, the independent agency that oversees rail safety. The incidents often involve miscommunications and mistakes stemming from Metro’s embattled Rail Operations Control Center and on-ground work crews.

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The Rail Operations Control Center, or ROCC, which is responsible for coordinating all Metrorail train traffic, has come under tight watch since the safety commission released an audit in September 2020 labeling it a “toxic workplace.” Bullying, racial and sexual harassment, willful ignoring of safety policies, miscommunication and consistent staffing issues were among problems the audit said created conditions that threaten passenger safety.

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By Justin George
Justin George is a reporter covering national transit and Metro, the D.C.-area public transportation system, for The Washington Post. He previously covered criminal justice for the Marshall Project and the Baltimore Sun. Twitter https://twitter.com/justingeorge