Source: Blue/Yellow Mess A Preview of Things to Come

The kind of hydraulic fluid spill that caused major delays on the Blue and Yellow lines on March 11, may not be a one-time event, according to a source.

The people in charge of purchasing the Prime Mover Drain Cleaning Vehicle that leaked hydraulic oil on the tracks were warned repeatedly not to purchase this equipment.

The head of Car Track Equipment Maintenance warned them [management] would have many problems like the one [that] morning. [Management] did not listen and bought them anyway.

He warned the bosses in the Track Department in several emails only to be told to 'pack sand, we are buying from a different company.'

The source said Metro had been buying prime movers from one company specifically "due to this hydraulic issue" with the other company's equipment. The source said that when a new general superintendent of the Track Department arrived three years ago, Metro began buying its equipment, including prime movers, from the company with what many at Metro saw as providing problematic equipment.

The prime mover that leaked "has been on the property since the summer, and there have been many many issues with it," wrote the source in an email. "Metro has probably procured at least 10 new machines from the same company, and they are beginning to arrive on the property."

The source added that the new vehicles have "other, costly problems that are not likely to be fixed any time soon."

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