Photo by yakfur

John Catoe’s last day on the job as Metro General Manager is this Friday, and incoming Interim GM Richard Sarles has pledged to make safety his number one priority. Looks like Sarles has already got one issue to address: a train operator accidentally took off with a 14-car train on the Orange Line this morning, pulling into the New Carrollton station before noticing the mistake. The extra-long train was the result of an 8-car train having been coupled with a 6-car train that had been stored closely behind it in the New Carrollton Rail Yard, according to Metro. From the release:

The train pulled into the station at about 5:40 a.m. and opened its doors. The few customers who boarded the train were immediately asked to disembark. They boarded another train.

Proper procedures were followed when employees in the rail yard spotted the long train as it pulled out of the rail yard and into the station and alerted the train operator, who took the train safely out of service. The train operator was taken for standard drug and alcohol testing and is out of service pending an investigation.