[PRCo] Re: METRORAIL DISASTER-DEFFERED MAINENANCE?

Sun Jun 28 15:59:03 EDT 2009

As suspected, it was an accident that was waiting to happen.  Given the headways, there might be one train stopped behind a train at the Ft. Totten station.  On June 22, the train stopped at Ft. Totten was there a sufficient amount of time for the six pack of 1000s to discover that there was a defect in the signal system.

From: jack.may at americomm.net
To: alschneider2 at juno.com; etennyson at cox.net
CC: rejmhj at netzero.net; j_swindler at hotmail.com; pcc_sr at yahoo.com; pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org; gary-elaine at comcast.net; nawdry at bga.com; crvlkotula at aol.com; philgcraig204 at yahoo.com; billvigrass at verizon.net; bob.dietrich1 at verizon.net; bbente at bellsouth.net; trams2 at comcast.net; allmanr at verizon.net; shadow at dementia.org; akftrain at aol.com; miklosfrank at comcast.net; jaurelius at centurytel.net; russell.jackson at stvinc.com
Subject: RE: METRORAIL DISASTER-DEFFERED MAINENANCE?
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:17:55 -0400

“The circuits appeared to have intermittently lost track of the trains involved in the crash of two Metro trains that killed nine people, according to Metro documents obtained by The Frederick News-Post.”

Intermittent problems have always been the bane of existence of computer and electronic technicians.  One needs a great deal of discipline to deal properly with them, to determine their cause and then solve them.  Lazy workers will tend to make the same tests over and over again, hoping that the problem will go away of its own volition, which might happen for a short period of time, but rarely permanently.  Then they’ll say, “It won’t fail again” and some managers may let them get away with it.  Of course deep down they know a particular intermittent problem will reel its ugly head again, but they are hopeful that they’ll be off duty at the time and a colleague will have to deal with it.   

Nowadays, if a problem can be isolated to a particular piece of hardware, it is not unusual that it gets replaced in its entirety, as that may cost very little compared to the time and effort involved in finding the component that is occasionally failing.

Jack

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Subject: Re: METRORAIL DISASTER-DEFFERED MAINENANCE?

FrederickNewsPost.com

Source: Metro circuits were malfunctioning for five days
Originally published June 26, 2009

By Marge Neal 

Photo by Associated Press

Workers install new fencing Wednesday in Washington, at the site where two Metro trains crashed Monday.

Two track circuits in the area of Monday's deadly Metro crash alternately reported the track as vacant and then occupied almost constantly from June 17, when a part of a signaling device was replaced, until the time of the crash, according to a Metro source. 
The circuits appeared to have intermittently lost track of the trains involved in the crash of two Metro trains that killed nine people, according to Metro documents obtained by The Frederick News-Post. 

The documents show what is known as "flip-flopping," with the circuit alternately reporting the track as "occupied" and then "vacant." The report for track circuit number B2-304, where the stopped train was located, starts at 4:45 p.m. and ends at 5:38 p.m., about 40 minutes after the crash. 

Throughout the time period covered by the report, the circuit shows the track either occupied or vacant as often as every couple of seconds. 

At 4:57:03 p.m., about the time of the crash, the report shows the track to be vacant until 5:37:44, when it reports the track is occupied. Less than a minute later, the report again states the track was vacant, even though train wreckage was on the track. One second after that, the track was reportedly occupied again. The circuit flip-flopped again before finally showing the track to be occupied at 5:38:40. 

On June 17, a part of the track signaling device known as a Wee-Z Bond was replaced in the area of the crash, according to a Metro source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Frederick News-Post agreed to the request because of the compelling nature of the information. 

The two track circuits involved in the crash -- B2-304 and B2-312 -- share the bond that was replaced. The component feeds the receiver for one and gets the signal from the transmitter for the other. 

Both circuits continued to alternately report the track as vacant and then occupied almost constantly from June 17, when the part was replaced, to the time of the crash, according to the Metro source. 

"Without seeing the schematic drawings of the (Wee-Z Bond), I cannot say it failed or contributed to this crash," Najm Meshkati, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, said Thursday. "I can say the system did not get back to its normal operating mode after the replacement was made." 

The replacement part did not perform its intended purpose, Meshkati said. The part could have been defective, or it could have needed to be recalibrated or reset to work properly, he said. 

Metro, he said, needs to take a "hard look" at its systems safety practices and philosophy. 

"It is important not to blame," he said. "It's important to find the root cause of the problem and change the safety culture of the organization." 

The Frederick News-Post has also learned that Matthew L. Matyuf, superintendent of the Automatic Train Control division, was relieved of his duties after the crash. 

"I can confirm that the ATC superintendent has been temporarily assigned to a special project," Lisa Farbstein, Metro's chief spokeswoman, said Thursday. "It happened post-incident, and I do not know what the project is." 

Wednesday night, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board conducted tests using a similar train at the crash site, according to a press release from the agency. When the train was stopped at the same location as the stopped train that was hit, the train control system lost detection of the test train. 

Investigators are continuing to examine trackside circuits and train control system data to understand how the train control system functioned on the day of the crash, according to the release. 

Recorder data have been recovered by the struck train. The striking train did not have any onboard accident data recorders, according to NTSB. 

The operator of the striking train, Jeanice McMillan, was killed in the impact. NTSB investigators found metal-to-metal compression streak marks on both rails of the track for about 125 feet ending near the point of impact, consistent with heavy braking, the release states. 

McMillan apparently pressed a "mushroom" button to activate an emergency brake. 

The operator of the struck train was interviewed Thursday morning, according to the release. He told investigators that he operated his train in manual mode during his entire shift that afternoon. He said he had stopped to wait for a train that was stopped in front of him when his train was struck. 

NTSB said investigators will continue to document evidence at the accident scene and intend to conduct sight distance tests using trains similar to those involved in the crash. 

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