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Smedberg responds to Kierig, says " #wmata has been a leader in the cleanliness and keeping up with...customer safety on its rail cars and buses". Says other agencies have reached out for advice. Also says comms team working hard to let people know stations have masks/sanitizer
Smedberg says #wmata got 3,000 survey responses to FY21 budget changes/cuts (background: https://ggwash.org/view/79315/facing-budget-cuts-metro-asks-riders-to-select-the-least-bad-options)
CSO Impastato update on Red Line pull-apart issue: says she holds "sacrosanct" the integrity of investigations (responding to WMSC finding). Working to enhance investigations, moving past just answering "what happened" but also how/why
#wmata diagram of where the Red Line train 108 ended up (each red block is 2 cars)
Also, pics of the coupler which came apart. Draw bar separated from its buffer tube
What happened: https://ggwash.org/view/79292/a-metro-red-line-train-came-apart-on-friday-what-happened
Also, pics of the coupler which came apart. Draw bar separated from its buffer tube
What happened: https://ggwash.org/view/79292/a-metro-red-line-train-came-apart-on-friday-what-happened
Impastato says report of a smoldering crosstie + report of passenger self-evacuations contributed to delays in getting all passengers off the disabled train.
#wmata
#wmata
Impastato: no evidence of excessive wear or degredation of the coupler which pulled-apart, so #wmata is looking at the coupler overhaul maintenance process. Says similar to the August 25, 2018 Silver Line pull-apart, but too early to link the two.
Coupler assembly moved from Brentwood to Greenbelt, but wasn't sealed w/"protective wrapping" due to lack of materials. Technicians performed torque testing before move, and #wmata found torque stripe on buffer tube/nut was "no longer in tact." Escalated to exec mgmt.
Impastato notes deficiencies in #wmata evidence control process; lack of physical isolation and protection (i.e wrapping), along with lack of understanding of responsibilities among employees for handing investigations.
Pics show moved torque stripe
Pics show moved torque stripe
Impastato concludes, says they intend to respond to the WMSC with their corrective action plan to enhance investigation/evidence controls within the allowed timeframe.
Impastato notes the 2018 pull-apart resulted in part due to an incorrect bolt. Says they don't believe the Red Line cause was due to the same thing. The bolt in the Red Line incident was provided by OEM. #wmata
Impastato to Letourneau: based on interviews w/employees, "no attempts made of nefarious origin" - believe tampering was due to lack of understanding of protocols & lack of evidence securing. Mix of lack of protocols and lack of understanding of compliance. #wmata
Wiedefeld says rail ridership still down 88% and bus down 50% compared to the same time last year. There's a new ad going out this week to emphasize "no mask, no Metro" #wmata
Paul, you're muted. #wmata
Letourneau says NVTC has asked for route-level bus costs to help make decisions about FY21/22 cuts. #wmata
Goldman talking up FLASH, which he calls Montgomery County's "world-class bus rapid transit" system. Featuring off-board payments.
#wmata
#wmata
That's it for #wmata today. Board now into executive session.
Correx; Letourneau did not specifically name NVTC when talking about this request for route-level budget data; VA jurisdictions individually fund their portions of the #wmata subsidy, unlike DC/Maryland https://twitter.com/MetroReasons/status/1319297456031617025
Investigators are narrowing in on a root cause of this month’s Red Line train pull-apart #wmata https://ggwash.org/view/79397/potential-cause-of-union-station-pull-apart-found-and-other-metrorail-safety-updates
