It’s been quite a week for the Orange line, with three long delays in three days (not to mention last week’s storm-related delays). Monday’s derailment of a train between the Rosslyn and Court House stations left people clamoring for a way to get home, but luckily, it wasn’t as severe as it could have been. Of course, no one would argue that being stuck in a tunnel for a long time with air conditioning on one of the most oppressively hot days of the year isn’t tough, but imagine what could have happened instead.

Last year’s derailment at the Mt. Vernon Square station injured almost 20 people. That accident led federal investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board to question Metro’s overall safety for its passengers. In 1982, a derailment between the Smithsonian and Federal Triangle stations caused three fatalities, 25 injuries, and the complete shut down of the Blue and Orange lines – at the same time that an Air Florida flight crashed into the 14th Street Bridge. It is the only time that a passenger has been killed by an accident in the agency’s history. No one was injured in a 2003 derailment outside of the Washington National Airport station, but it could have gotten ugly, with a train sliding and sparking over the third rail on a 30-foot high bridge.

Metro’s safety record is pretty much on par with other major metropolitan transit systems, and six derailments with passenger trains in over 30 years is not a terrible mark, though it could be better.

In the end, the NTSB isn’t planning on investigating this week’s accident. In terms of getting people where they need to go quickly, Metro is having a very bad week. But as far as safety goes, it could have been turned out much, much worse – and for that, we’re thankful.

Photo by Kevin H.