The National Transportation Safety Board released its findings this afternoon from an investigation into the January derailment of a Green line train near the Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center stop. The accident, in which the fifth car of a six-car train jumped the rails and hit a wall in the tunnel, injured 20 people and left around 60 passengers stranded in the tunnel for nearly 45 minutes. The Associated Press has the first word on the report:

Poor wheel maintenance procedures and internal disagreements over how to balance a fleet of rail cars led to the Jan. 7 derailment of a Metro train that injured 23 people, federal investigators say.

The National Transportation Safety Board also found the derailment could have been prevented if Metro had installed a guardrail at the tight curve where one rail car went off the tracks. The accident happened when a six-car train approached the Mount Vernon Square station beneath the Washington Convention Center.

The Post notes that the accident caused about $4 million in damage to two rail cars and other equipment, which one investigator remarked, “would have bought an awful lot” of guardrail.

There is still no guardrail at the accident site, and Metro is working on installing it at 100 similar sections of mainline track, the Post story continues. Metro also said it has adjusted its smooth wheel maintenance procedures in light of the findings, despite frustrations voices by members of the NTSB panel about Metro’s slow response to fixing the problem.

Photo by Grundlepuck

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