The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission expressed renewed concerns about WMATA’s fatigue policy after learning about a January incident at Fort Totten.

On Jan. 7, a train operator overran the Yellow Line platform at Fort Totten before opening the doors on the wrong side of the train for more than 90 seconds, according to a WMSC Commissioner brief. The operator didn’t report any of this to the Rail Operations Control Center and didn’t perform a mandated walk-around check after the incident. The operator was eventually removed from service at Gallery Place, the report states.

Officials found the operator had been working long days: more than 15 hours on Jan. 3 and 16 hours on Jan. 6 — the day before the incident — putting them at increased risk for fatigue. The operator had just 6.5 hours before the next shift, which is less than WMATA’s policy of 7 to 9 hours of sleep between shifts. The operator reported feeling fully alert at the time of the incident and did not report experiencing any symptoms of fatigue.

Safety Commission CEO David Mayer said it’s hard to confirm whether fatigue is a causal factor, but added that it likely contributed. He says it’s concerning, but notes that transit workers don’t have federal mandates for hours of service.

“This is very likely a systemic problem throughout the transit world because unlike pretty much every other field of commercial transportation, there are no federal regulations for hours of service,” Mayer said during a Tuesday meeting of the Safety Commission. “There are hours of service regulations for airline pilots, for locomotive engineers…but not for transit workers like train operators and power desk controllers.

“It’s something that we’ve been engaging with Metro significantly since (the WMSC’s) inception.”

Last week, Metro removed 72 train operators for being out of compliance with safety certifications. Metrorail Safety Commissioner Bob Lauby says the removal is necessary, but expressed concern that the move may further strain other operators.

“The remaining operators are probably working harder and longer trying to support service,” Lauby said. “These types of situations are really where you begin to see the cracks in the system.

“I’m concerned that fatigue may be one of them.”

In a statement, WMATA spokesperson Ian Jannetta said, “We share WMSC’s concerns around fatigue management and are working to develop a new fatigue management policy, along with implementing additional corrective actions in response to WMSC’s Fitness for duty audit report.”

The commission criticized Metro’s fatigue policy last year, writing in an audit that Metro wasn’t enforcing much of its fatigue management policy, including the minimum rest period that operators must have between shifts. The National Transportation Safety Board recommends at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep between shifts, and officials found that lack of sleep likely contributed to crashes and other incidents in the system. Metro requires 10 hours between shifts, but it doesn’t always happen.

Mayer says he planned to tackle the issue with former General Manager Paul Wiedefeld, but then October’s Blue Line derailment happened, pushing other priorities higher. Mayer says he will again address the issue with Metro’s new, incoming general manager, Randy Clarke once he begins in July.