Unsuck DC Metro: Red Line Communications Breakdown

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Red Line Communications Breakdown

From Dave Tucker:

On April 18, I was on a Red Line train to Shady Grove. I was in the 1st car, #6147.

We had to stop in the tunnel before we got to Tenleytown because of a train ahead of us. When we tried to start moving again, the train wouldn't move forward. We kept going 5-10 feet backward. The driver would stop the train and try again. This happened about 10 times, and the entire time the driver was attempting to contact central control for help, but either his radio didn't work, or central didn't respond.

This was over the course of 10 minutes or so, which was very concerning, especially as we could hear the driver yelling to himself because of the lack of response.

Finally, a police officer, either Metro Transit or Montgomery County, walked into our car and offered assistance to the driver, who told him that either his radio wasn't working or central wasn't responding.

The driver attempted to move the train once more, but again it was unable to move forward. Finally, 15 minutes after stopping, the train slowly pulled into the station.

I'm not sure if the officer was able to establish communication with Central or whether the driver's radio began working again, but upon arrival at Tenleytown, our train was offloaded and most were able to board the next train, the lead car of which was #4037.

Obviously, mechanical problems happen, but it was extremely concerning that our train operator was out of communication with central for such a long period of time and that there was no back up communication plan in place. What would have happened had we not had the officer on our train? What if a medical emergency had occurred?

The entire experience left me with a sense that should something major go wrong with Metro, they will be extremely unprepared to deal with the problem and that bothers me much more than being delayed 20 minutes on a Monday evening.

Other items:
Riders save elderly couple who fell onto tracks (Examiner)
Va. governor calls for Dulles station reversal (WTOP)

Comments (20)

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+11 Vote up Vote down

BradK · 726 weeks ago

In other news, Metro will be performing overnight track maintenance beginning at 9PM. This maintenance will allow cellular carriers time to install communications equipment outside the Tenleytown station. -- Wait a minute, customers can communicate on their cell phones via underground repeaters? I wonder if such a technology exists for radios in the 460mhz range?

I swear, every day I hear something that absolutely makes my head explode... I think today, this was it... How can metro do all this safety maintenance but not ensure train operators can keep in contact with Central Control? If I am understanding things correctly, wasnt that one of the major factors in the derailment north of Farragut North a few years back?

Grrr...

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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n2deep · 725 weeks ago

don't be so alarmed about the poor radio communications around tenleytown. there are a lot of areas in the rail systems where there is NO communications. we have brought this to the higher -ups attention for many years now. metro is more worried about installing communication lines for the riders to use their phones than they are correcting our own communication system. some of us have been issued cell phones because they know they cannot get us on the radio in many areas.
in my opinion clear communications should be the number 1 priority if they are serious about safety. but they really don't care about safety just the appearance of caring..thats all.

-16 Vote up Vote down

Corresponding Toads · 726 weeks ago

What if a medical emergency occurred? Or what if monkeys flew out of my butt?

Metro happens. You're still alive, and you made it home eventually. Save up for that jet pack if you fear for your safety on the rails.

+1 Vote up Vote down

@kara_h · 726 weeks ago

re: the WTOP article:

Save VA a lot of money and put the last station on that line about a mile short of Dulles. Hope your state is happy with your chief executive. :)

4 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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John · 726 weeks ago

Yeah, seriously, how idiotic. Half a mile from the airport? Do they realize people have luggage and what not? Putting it underground will pay off by making Dull-ass at least somewhat convenient to fly out of... SMH....

+1 Vote up Vote down

Sam · 726 weeks ago

What do you expect from someone who likely has never ridden Metro.. or any public transportation for that matter.

-1 Vote up Vote down

crucible · 726 weeks ago

I'm damned happy with him and other local officials who are pushing back against the unelected, unaccountable body that is MWAA-thanks for asking :)

-1 Vote up Vote down

John · 726 weeks ago

This has nothing to do with the unaccountability with WMATA, especially since in this case they are actually making sense. It doesn't happen too often, so it would be nice not to interfere on this one...

+3 Vote up Vote down

anony · 726 weeks ago

Question: What would it be worth the typical Dulles rail customer to have it closer? If the net present value is greater than the NPV of the cost differential, then do it and add on a Dulles airport surcharge to cover the cost differential.

If it's not, then don't do it.

3 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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@kara_h · 726 weeks ago

It is not just the worth to the rail customers. There is also the 'look' to the immediate area (the architecture of the terminal itself) to consider.

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crucible · 726 weeks ago

That's the point-its a cost that will be eaten by Virginia citizens who use the toll road, not travelers transversing the area to and from Dulles. It's an arrogant mandate that raises taxes on Virginia citizens from an unelected, unaccountable body (MWAA), regardless of what the citizens or thier elected officials want.

Secondly, the damn project is already a half billion dollars over budget-who gets to eat the inevitable overunns here too beyond the 300M? The MWAA? Virginia citizens who won't necessarily be using the METRO, and that's not okay.

Get MWAA to add a surcharge for travelers to pay for it (or have them fund it themselves) and I'm with an underground station, but not the backs of Virginia citizens whether they use it or not. Otherwise, I'm more than okay with shuttle buses and savings of 300+M that Virginia citizens will not have to cough up and the whim of an unlelected, unaccountable body.

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John · 726 weeks ago

So do the shuttle buses charge a fare, or are they like the airport parking shuttle buses that are free to the consumers? Because if that is the case, guess what, it costs money.

This is supposed to be the Dulles Airport Train, not the One Mile Outside of Dulles Airport Train.

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Steve · 726 weeks ago

The delays on the orange line were pretty impressive today. i was on the train that broke down at Mcpherson square with brake problems. You could hear th eproblems beginning at farrugut west. Thought it was gonna be offloaded even there.

+2 Vote up Vote down

John · 726 weeks ago

Metro unprepared in an emergency? Can you freaking imagine? During rush hour no less? Tons of people panicking trying to get out of a station, piling into one escalator because all the other ones are broken/out of service? *shudder*

+7 Vote up Vote down

guest · 726 weeks ago

OP, i was a couple trains behind you and could hear the central dispatcher (over the radio in my train's cab, behind which i was standing) frantically trying to reach your operator, including telling the station manager to GO DOWN TO THE PLATFORM and look for your train. i think the dispatcher could hear bits of your operator, as i heard about the rolling backwards and inability to berth the train on the platform. you were train 146, i believe.

(and then, there was a discussion about a fight on the rockville platform and whether trains should express through the station or not. the dispatcher was asking train 144 to creep in to the station and report back. oi vey. just like the melee at WPZ. i gotta stop listening to the dispatch radio...)

rough night. -shaking head-

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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John · 726 weeks ago

Glad you guys were all right and no one was hurt!

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abc · 726 weeks ago

I've seen this happen with the buses too. As of recently I can recall at least two instances where I was on a bus that got stuck and then started to move backwards.

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GlenmontGirl · 726 weeks ago

I've had something like this happen on the trains several times, where the operator brakes, tries to go forward, rolls backward, and then brakes again. I always assume it's a problem with the brakes (because otherwise what would it be, that the driver just likes messing with the passengers?), but the operators have always managed to get the train moving forward safely in the end.

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Guest · 726 weeks ago

Trains roll backwards due to brake problems. I know someone who put their train in ato just to get it to move forward then stopped and put it back in manual to move to the station. A train can be offloaded and moved into a pocket track or reversed and sent down line utilizing the oposite train cab or the train can be recovered then off loaded.