Photo by Amber Wilkie.

This day of particularly bad Metro news continues. Following a spate of issues on all six (yes, six) lines earlier today, WMATA announced behavior so egregious that even interim general manager and CEO Jack Requa admitted it was egregious.

Metro detected a problem with the tracks in early July, an alignment issue known as a “wide gauge” that can cause the wheels to lose contact with the rail. But the problem went untreated until an empty train derailed at a switch point outside the Smithsonian station.

“We frankly did not act quickly enough to make repairs,” Requa said. “I don’t want to mince words, but this was totally unacceptable.” Metro’s deputy general manager said that part of the track should have been removed from service immediately. Yet weeks went by.

Then three cars on a passenger-less six-car train derailed in the early morning of Aug. 6, just before it was set to begin taking riders. Service was suspended for hours between McPherson Square and Federal Center SW because of the problem. And the resulting chaos was so bad that Metro even issued refunds to riders who were still affected by delays the next day.

At the time of the derailment, Requa called it “minor from the standpoint of damage, but a major disruption” for the Metro system. Had there been people on that train, it could have been so much worse.

Requa has ordered a system-wide inspection of the tracks. Repairs in the coming days means that riders can expect more delays.