A Metrorail driver, who was arrested last year for driving a train under the influence of alcohol, controlled a Blue Line train for hours, and the supervisor, who had been on the train with the driver for some time, suspected something. I missed the signs of what was happening. That’s a mistake, according to a new report from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.
The man, who Metro did not disclose by name, was driving a Blue Line train on Friday evening, detouring through Alexandria’s Van Dorn Street station. He then stopped the train for about 40 minutes, called 911 for the stranded passengers, and finally let them off at the Franconia Springfield station.
The driver worked a split shift that day, arriving for the first time at 9:40 a.m. and working at the depot, according to a Safety Commission report. Reports say he was not instructed to drive the train during that time and spent most of his working time sitting in his car.
Later in the shift, he was due to be at Huntington Station by 5:28 pm, but arrived about two hours late.
A short time later he was picked up by a train that had another train driver and railway supervisor on board. The driver took over the train at King Street Station and drove it to Downtown Largo.
Reports said the train stopped short of the end of the platform at several stations along the way, including 32 feet short of Potomac Avenue and 28 feet short of Capitol South.
The railroad superintendent said he had boarded the train with the driver to Stadium Armory station and, during subsequent interrogations, did not notice any signs of intoxication, the safety commission said.
At the Downtown Largo station, the operator got off and headed to the terminal area for a break. Closed-circuit television later captured him showing signs of disability, including being unable to walk in a straight line, as he stepped off the platform to return to the train and head to Franconia Springfield station. the report said.
According to the Safety Commission, the driver’s driving became inconsistent in the next few stations, with the train stopping a few dozen feet short of one point and at King Street Station, where he was forced to open the door without looking out of the windows required for safety. was operated. .
At Van Dorn Street station, the driver ran over two railcars, missed the platform, paused, and continued without opening the door.
About 10:30 p.m., about a mile past Van Dorn, the train stopped and remained there for 40 minutes, during which time passengers and radio rail traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact them. The driver did not respond. According to the Safety Commission.
At 11:12 p.m., the controller directed another train carrying the railway supervisor, metro traffic police and medics to head for the train and drop off the 18 passengers. However, the driver woke up and completed the trip to Franconia Springfield around 11:20pm.
Traffic police then stopped the driver from driving the train to downtown Largo, and subway employees found the driver to be intoxicated, the report said.
After his arrest, the driver failed a sobriety test at the Fairfax County Jail and Metro fired him.
Since becoming a pilot in 2019, he has had several safety issues, including a crash in January 2020, according to the safety commission.
Since the December 2022 incident, Metro has begun implementing procedures to determine job suitability when employees report to work in the second half of a split shift.
The Safety Commission concluded that Metro could have responded to the problem more quickly had staff detected and dealt with the overrun and failure of service to Van Dorn Street station.
Metrorail may also consider developing procedures to deal with situations where operations managers are unable to communicate with the railway operations management center, the safety commission said.
