Shortly after the Metrorail crash near Fort Totten that killed nine people on June 22, 2009, WMATA decided to switch its trains to manual mode, which would give its operators more control to stop and control the speed of trains. Almost two years later though, the agency’s hardly close to returning to automatic operation.

Photo by seduffel The National Transportation Safety Board today issued what it’s calling an “urgent safety recommendation” to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, based on the preliminary findings of its investigation into the fatal June 22 Red Line crash. Despite the fact that the investigation has not yet concluded and the NTSB has yet to say officially what they believe was the cause of the accident, they have gone ahead and told WMATA…