[UPDATE: Three more bodies were found inside the trains last night. Death total now stands at 9. Blogger Red Nose's husband, Joe, was on one of the trains yesterday. Most likely causes now are seen as failure of automatic warning and braking system or operator error or both.]
About 5 pm, two Metro trains on the Red Line collided at Ft. Totten. Many have been injured, and so far, 6 people are confirmed to have died.
I rode the Red Line from Dupont Circle to Ft. Totten this morning. After I transfer to the Green Line at Ft. Totten, my stop is the first one down.
This is only the third major accident in Metro's history and by far the worst. I love the Metro. For all its minor faults, it's a splendid system. Our hearts go out to all concerned.
I didn't know about this, I will have to watch the TV news tonight.
ReplyDeleteoh, it's horble. worst accident in DC metro history. they've only had 3 major accidents in 33 years of existence, and this is by far the worst. (the second worst one was the same day that airplane crashed into the Potomac; 3 people died in a derailment that day, but nobody heard about it cuz the big news was the plane crash.) i feel very bad for everyone concerned, not least of whom are the people who work for Metro. i love Metro...despite the minor glitches, it's a splendid system, and the people are wonderful and friendly. Sad.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for 'em too. It shud not have happened. It's supposed to be a great system. But people are dead.
ReplyDeleteSo awful. So awful.
Cat
I wonder if it was "operator error" or a problem with the switching. In any case, it is terrible that lives were lost. I'm glad YOU weren't on it when it happened!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you weren't on that train. It is a terrible tragedy.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, our hearts go out to all who lost someone and to those who are injured.
We are still pinching ourselves, so thankful he was in the last car of the second train. We can't quite bring ourselves to think about what would have happened if he caught the earlier one.
ReplyDeletetonight i took the green line home, and people are still spooked. when the train left the archives, it moved ahead a bit and then stopped. everyone looked apprehensive, many clutched the hand bar on the seatback in front of them. nobody looked back at their newspaper until the train started moving.
ReplyDeleteA disaster like that makes everyone nervous for a while, but only for a while. Some people may never ride the subway again, but most people will continue trusting that the trains will get them to their destinations safely. If we didn't have faith in the various transport systems that we have grown used to, we would never venture on a train, plane, bus, ship, whatever, again.
ReplyDeleteI gotta say the recent news has not inspired confidence. Deferred maintenance. 12-week training (only) for operators. Screwy lines of responsibility. And a list of accidents that is much longer than any other city--including those with far more extensive and far older systems.
ReplyDeleteIn America, we gotta face that government is potentially a good thing, and, if not a good thing, then at least a far better thing than non-government. Good government means good public services. And good public services mean lives eased and lives saved.
We gotta stop with the billions for foreign wars in countries and cultures we don't even understand. And we gotta start taking care of services here at home.
Our spending priorities are outrageous. We continue to pay the price. And the price is people's lives.
Cat
Cat: ABSOLUTELY!!! Metro has to beg every year for funds from VA and MD, whose citizens it carts daily to the Big Lemon (NYC is the Big Apple, DC is the Big Lemon???). The gummint pours billions o'bucks down the banks' and auto manufacturers's rat holes, but balks at funding public transportation!! Totally nuts.
ReplyDelete