Photo by Liliang

Following the Secretary of Transportation’s threat to close the entire Metrorail system, the Federal Transit Administration is handing down more maintenance tasks to WMATA. In a letter sent today, the FTA points out three segments of Metrorail that need immediate work:

• Medical Center to Van Ness on the Red Line
• Potomac Avenue to the D&G junction on the Blue, Orange, and Silver Line,
• Ballston-MU to East Falls Church on the Orange/Silver Line.

The notice comes after FTA officials say they have investigated 15 safety events from April 23 to May 10. It gives specific work plans for each segment “to reduce the risk of smoke and fire events and to ensure the safety of passengers and employees.”

In general, the agency could be referring to preventing instances such as: the small fire that took place after a train broke down en route to Stadium Armory earlier this week, the explosion at Federal Center SW last week, the fire on the tracks at Rosslyn station in April, the tunnel fire near Clarendon station in March, the report of smoke that caused the Green Line to bypass Anacostia station last October, another smoke incident that temporarily closed Stadium Armory station a month earlier, the minor smoke incident impacting three Red Line stations last February, the deadly smoke incident at L’enfant Plaza a month before that, and perhaps the “spark and boom” inside Smithsonian station in 2014.

The work must be completed within 30 days, which means it’ll begin ahead of the forthcoming year-long maintenance plan that’s slated to begin in June, pending board approval.

Today’s letter comes after the FTA sent another one last month, as well as a safety directive this month, both providing separate deadlines for other maintenance projects.

FTA Letter to WMATA – Actions Before Safe Track by Christina Sturdivant