Another Metro Derailment

Metro sources confirm there was another train derailment in a further safety setback for the the troubled transit agency. The incident occurred Saturday on a non-passenger train at the New Carrollton rail yard and caused major damage.

Three sources confirm a train consisting of an unknown number of cars derailed and was dragged for some distance, causing damage to cars on the derailed train, cars on a train next to the derailed trail, as well as to the rails and wayside track equipment.

One source said the operator, instead of stopping after feeling the increased drag caused by the derailment, sped up making the problem worse.

Another source said that if the train consisted of eight cars, the operator would likely not notice the additional drag.

One source said the damages could be in excess of $7 million and another said "several million."

"As for the amount of damage, who knows for sure," said yet another source. "When you speak of body damage on two cars then that is where the bulk of the cost would be, along with making wayside repairs. That would mean running rails, cross ties, signals, switches, etc. It probably climbed up and over a switch point, so that switch might need replacing as well."  

There were no reported injuries.

In April, a Blue Line train derailed outside of Rosslyn,  and in July,  a Green Line train derailed near West Hyattsville.