RobertB
22 May 2007, 11:51 AM
HOLY CRAP! :2doh:
May 22, 2007, 1:23AM
Errors lead Metro trains to near head-on collision
Railcars with passengers were running in opposite ways on same track
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4824346.html
By RAD SALLEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
A series of errors sent two MetroRail trains carrying passengers within half a mile of a possible head-on collision in the Texas Medical Center area this month, Metro officials revealed Monday.
Metropolitan Transit Authority controllers at the Houston TranStar traffic center learned of the situation when the operator of one train, who was new on the job, called them for advice after proceeding more than half a mile on a track intended for trains going the opposite direction, officials said.
Metro executive vice president John Sedlak said that incident May 9 was the first time since the 7.5-mile Red Line opened Jan. 1, 2004, that trains were running toward each other on the same track without supervisors' knowledge.
Six days later, a less hazardous wrong-way situation occurred between two trains, neither carrying passengers, near Metro's maintenance yard.
The employees involved in the May 9 incident have been disciplined, and Sedlak said Metro has reported the incident to the Texas Department of Transportation as required by law. On its own initiative, he said, Metro has invited a peer review panel to study the incident and recommend safety changes.
The panel, with members from the American Public Transit Association and from transit agencies in New Jersey, Baltimore and Salt Lake City — all with on-street operations similar to the Main Street line — arrived Monday, Sedlak said.
"The system is safe to ride," Sedlak said. "While mistakes were made, the railroad performed safely even in the face of unusual behavior," he said.
Metro has taken additional safety measures to prevent recurrence of the problem, officials said.
The May 9 incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m., near the end of the morning rush hour.
David Feeley, Metro senior vice president of operations, said the first of three errors happened when a member of a signal maintenance crew working near the Smith Lands station, which serves a large parking lot for Medical Center workers at Greenbriar and Pressler, waved the northbound train through an open switch and onto the track for southbound trains.
Diversion not reported
The second error was the train operator's failure to report the track diversion to controllers at TranStar, and the third was the controllers' failure to spot the train's position and direction on their video screens.
On arriving at the TMC Transit Center station, Fannin at Pressler, the operator called controllers and asked if they wanted her to continue northbound on the southbound track, Feeley said.
Controllers then recognized the problem and ordered her not to move. They also called the operator of a southbound train that was stopped at the next station, Dryden/TMC, and ordered it not to proceed until the trains could be rerouted.
Feeley said the rail system operates under visual controls with nothing to automatically prevent a collision. May 9 was bright and sunny, he said.
The normal speed for trains in that area is 25 mph, and each train could have stopped in less than 200 feet at that speed, Metro officials said.
The second incident occurred about 5 a.m. May 15, as railcars were being linked into 2-car trains in preparation for the morning rush hour.
These trains were about 700 feet apart when they stopped, but neither was carrying passengers and each was traveling about 5 mph, officials said.
Feeley said one train was exiting the yard on the northbound track as the other crossed over from the southbound track. Normally, he said, a supervisor would have been on the scene to tell the southbound train to wait until the other had cleared the switch, but that person was attending to an unrelated incident.
Disciplinary actions
The two train operators saw each other and stopped in time to avoid colliding, Feeley said.
Metro declined to reveal the names of those involved in either incident but outlined these disciplinary actions:
In the May 9 incident, the Metro controller at TranStar was suspended until the investigation is complete; the operator of the northbound train was suspended for five days under terms of the union contract and is not driving trains; one maintenance worker at the switch site resigned; and two others were suspended without pay, then returned to work under direct supervision.
In the May 15 incident, the drivers and yard supervisor were not at fault, and the TranStar controller is working under direct supervision, Metro said.
I'm still trying to figure out why the train operator in the May 9 incident is being disciplined. It seems reasonable to assume that the maintenance personnel have some clue what they're doing. It would be a shame to make her a scapegoat just so the agency can say they punished someone in each department -- bash unions all you want, but that sort of situation is why they exist.
It's important to note that despite three significant lapses in judgement, there was no collision. Also, for us in Dallas, it must be noted that everything but the downtown transit mall is fully signal-controlled, and not subject to this sort of potential mishap. No worries about high-speed DART trains colliding -- and don't forget that fact next time you're fuming because your driver is waiting for the signal ahead to turn green.
I would REALLY like to hear Haretip's thoughts on operational safety and procedures! I think he can put the situation in perspective.
Very useful map of the incident:
http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/07/05/22/metro.jpg
May 22, 2007, 1:23AM
Errors lead Metro trains to near head-on collision
Railcars with passengers were running in opposite ways on same track
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4824346.html
By RAD SALLEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
A series of errors sent two MetroRail trains carrying passengers within half a mile of a possible head-on collision in the Texas Medical Center area this month, Metro officials revealed Monday.
Metropolitan Transit Authority controllers at the Houston TranStar traffic center learned of the situation when the operator of one train, who was new on the job, called them for advice after proceeding more than half a mile on a track intended for trains going the opposite direction, officials said.
Metro executive vice president John Sedlak said that incident May 9 was the first time since the 7.5-mile Red Line opened Jan. 1, 2004, that trains were running toward each other on the same track without supervisors' knowledge.
Six days later, a less hazardous wrong-way situation occurred between two trains, neither carrying passengers, near Metro's maintenance yard.
The employees involved in the May 9 incident have been disciplined, and Sedlak said Metro has reported the incident to the Texas Department of Transportation as required by law. On its own initiative, he said, Metro has invited a peer review panel to study the incident and recommend safety changes.
The panel, with members from the American Public Transit Association and from transit agencies in New Jersey, Baltimore and Salt Lake City — all with on-street operations similar to the Main Street line — arrived Monday, Sedlak said.
"The system is safe to ride," Sedlak said. "While mistakes were made, the railroad performed safely even in the face of unusual behavior," he said.
Metro has taken additional safety measures to prevent recurrence of the problem, officials said.
The May 9 incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m., near the end of the morning rush hour.
David Feeley, Metro senior vice president of operations, said the first of three errors happened when a member of a signal maintenance crew working near the Smith Lands station, which serves a large parking lot for Medical Center workers at Greenbriar and Pressler, waved the northbound train through an open switch and onto the track for southbound trains.
Diversion not reported
The second error was the train operator's failure to report the track diversion to controllers at TranStar, and the third was the controllers' failure to spot the train's position and direction on their video screens.
On arriving at the TMC Transit Center station, Fannin at Pressler, the operator called controllers and asked if they wanted her to continue northbound on the southbound track, Feeley said.
Controllers then recognized the problem and ordered her not to move. They also called the operator of a southbound train that was stopped at the next station, Dryden/TMC, and ordered it not to proceed until the trains could be rerouted.
Feeley said the rail system operates under visual controls with nothing to automatically prevent a collision. May 9 was bright and sunny, he said.
The normal speed for trains in that area is 25 mph, and each train could have stopped in less than 200 feet at that speed, Metro officials said.
The second incident occurred about 5 a.m. May 15, as railcars were being linked into 2-car trains in preparation for the morning rush hour.
These trains were about 700 feet apart when they stopped, but neither was carrying passengers and each was traveling about 5 mph, officials said.
Feeley said one train was exiting the yard on the northbound track as the other crossed over from the southbound track. Normally, he said, a supervisor would have been on the scene to tell the southbound train to wait until the other had cleared the switch, but that person was attending to an unrelated incident.
Disciplinary actions
The two train operators saw each other and stopped in time to avoid colliding, Feeley said.
Metro declined to reveal the names of those involved in either incident but outlined these disciplinary actions:
In the May 9 incident, the Metro controller at TranStar was suspended until the investigation is complete; the operator of the northbound train was suspended for five days under terms of the union contract and is not driving trains; one maintenance worker at the switch site resigned; and two others were suspended without pay, then returned to work under direct supervision.
In the May 15 incident, the drivers and yard supervisor were not at fault, and the TranStar controller is working under direct supervision, Metro said.
I'm still trying to figure out why the train operator in the May 9 incident is being disciplined. It seems reasonable to assume that the maintenance personnel have some clue what they're doing. It would be a shame to make her a scapegoat just so the agency can say they punished someone in each department -- bash unions all you want, but that sort of situation is why they exist.
It's important to note that despite three significant lapses in judgement, there was no collision. Also, for us in Dallas, it must be noted that everything but the downtown transit mall is fully signal-controlled, and not subject to this sort of potential mishap. No worries about high-speed DART trains colliding -- and don't forget that fact next time you're fuming because your driver is waiting for the signal ahead to turn green.
I would REALLY like to hear Haretip's thoughts on operational safety and procedures! I think he can put the situation in perspective.
Very useful map of the incident:
http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/07/05/22/metro.jpg