Washington Metro reducing service over training dispute with safety watchdog
Jack Birle
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The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Monday it will be reducing service on the Blue, Orange, and Silver Metro lines due to a directive from its safety watchdog to remove 54 rail operators.
The directive from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission said the 54 rail operators should be removed due to insufficient training, alleging these rail operators have been certified despite not fulfilling all requirements set out by WMATA.
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WMATA said it will appeal the order from the commission, arguing that every certified operator has “17 weeks of combined classroom and on-the-job training for student operators with an instructor in the cab, for at least 38 hours.” Randy Clark, Metro’s general manager and CEO, called the directive an “arbitrary decision.”
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The reduction in service means trains on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines will run every 25 minutes rather than the previous 15-minute intervals. WMATA said the Red and Green lines will not be affected by reduced service.