General Manager John Catoe

Transcript: June 26, 2009

During an online chat Friday, June 26, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Metro General Manager John Catoe will respond directly to questions about Monday's fatal collision on the Red Line and steps Metro is taking to ensure the safety of the Metrorail system. Only questions that are submitted live during the chat will be answered. Submit a question or comment.

General Manager John Catoe: Welcome to today’s on-line discussion. The only topic of discussion today is Monday’s accident. I had hoped to be able to spend a full hour with you today, but I must end the session at 3 pm to attend to some accident related business. I apologize for that. So, I will keep my opening comment short so that I can take as many questions as possible. Please remember that the investigation of the accident by the NTSB, FTA and Metro is on-going, and we may not be able to answer all questions. I’ll do the best I can.

First, I want to share a few words with the families of those who died, and with those who were injured. I can only try to imagine what you are going through, and I am truly sorry this accident happened. Although, we cannot undo the accident, we have a deep desire to help you through these tough times, and we have set aside an emergency fund to help you with immediate expenses. The number to begin that process is 202-962-1681.

I think this chat represents an important forum, because we are dealing with very complex issues. Just as I have a time constraint today, journalists covering this news are operating under time and space constraints and may not be able to devote as much coverage to the complexities as they’d like. With this chat, we have an opportunity to talk directly with customers about the accident, and the steps moving forward.

Although the final accident report from the NTSB may be as much as a year away, we have been taking added precautions since the accident occurred. All trains are being operated in manual mode, and we are inspecting every one of the 3,000 sensors that make up the automatic train control system. We take our responsibility for running a safe transportation system very seriously, and I believe that in spite of this tragic accident, we have a safe system. I also believe that because of this accident, we will devote even more time and energy to safety, to finding out the cause, and implementing improvements.

Now to the first question:

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Arlington, VA: How long will the delay be on the Red Line this weekend?

Reply: Hi Arlington. The investigation is still ongoing at the site of the accident. We will be continuing to investigate the scene into the night. We'll know before opening and we'll get that info out in the early morning. You can check our web site, sign up to receive news releases or sign up to e-alerts as well. Also, I'm certain taht the local news shows will carry that information.

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Washington, DC: Will this Metro crash cause Metro to run trains slower in the future? I understand completely that Metro should fully examine and stress-test their computer system, but slowing down Metro trains to reduce collision damage seems like a bad idea to me.

Reply: Hi Washington. Once we determine the cause of this accident, fix it, and upgrade any other components of our system that may need upgrades, we will return to our automatic train operations, which will speed up our servcies.

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Silver Spring, MD: Why were the two trains that collided were so close to each other?

Reply: Silver Spring, We have 2 1/2-minute headways (length of time between trains)during rush hour on the Red Line. Something went horribly wrong to allow them to crash, which is what we are hoping to discover in the investigation.

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Arlington, VA: Mr CatoeShould not you and every member of the Board submit your resignations immediately for dereliction of duty in not providing safe conditions for Metro riders?

Reply: Arlington, I am working to discover the cause of the accident to make any fixes that we need to make so that this does not happen again. That is what I am focused on. I am not focused on whether others think I should resign.

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Washington, Dc: Why Didnt the train stop when the opertator could see it?

Reply: Washington, That is part of the investigation. From my personal observation of the site, we do not know what the operator could see at the time of the accident. NTSB is looking to find that out.

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Washington, DC: Is there a fund set-up for the general public to contribute to for the victim's family?Thanks.

Reply: Hi. We have a Metro Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor Metro employees, like Jeanice McMillan, who have died in the line of duty and assist with the education of their dependent children. To contribute to the fund, please make your check payable to the Metro Memorial Scholarship Fund/CFNCR and send it to Community Foundation for the National Capital Region to the attention of Starlette Hunter, 1201 15th Street, NW, Suite 420, Washington, DC 20005. The contribution is tax-deductable. Metro’s Board of Directors voted on June 23 to provide immediate hardship financial assistance to the survivors and families of those whose loved ones lost their lives in the collision of two Red Line trains between the Fort Totten and Takoma Metrorail stations. The Board authorized me to establish an emergency hardship relief fund of $250,000 from a reserve fund to provide financial relief for victims of the collision, to assist them with their medical, funeral and other immediate expenses. We have a detailed news release about it on our web site at this URL: http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=2625

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Ashland, VA: I thought the NTSB prohibited anyone involved in an ongoing investigation from making public statements. Are they involved in this chat?

Reply: Hi Ashland, nobody from NTSB is in the room.

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Silver Spring, MD: Since taking the job as Metro General Manager, had you reviewed the NTSB recommendations regarding the Series 1000 cars? If so, how was the decision reached to not retrofit these cars or accelerate their removal from service?

Reply: Our oldest railcars, the 1000 series cars, are safe to operate, and they have been maintained and rehabilitated throughout their 30 to 35 years of use. Replacement of these cars has been planned for quite some time, and we have been working with diligence to get the funds for the new railcars. Just as most people can’t trade up to the newest model automobile every time an automobile manufacturer designs a stronger vehicle with added safety features, we can’t trade-up to the newest railcar designs every year. It takes years to design, build, and field new railcars, and we began that process well before this year. Replacement of the rail cars in the 1000 series would cost over $800 million. Retrofitting those cars as the NTSB recommended in 2006 would have been nearly as costly as replacing them. We did not have the money to do that in 2006, and we do not have the money today. We are working aggressively on trying to secure that funding.

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Bethesda, MD: Will you "fast track" or speed up the current bid to purchase new cars as a result of the accident?

Reply: Bethesda, We have issued the RFP. We are lined up and ready to go to place the order. All we need is the money.

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bethesda, : Do you still plan to wait until 2014 to replace the 1000-line cars?

Reply: Bethesda, It generally takes 3-4 years from the time the order is placed until the cars are received because they are custom-built for each transit agency's tracks and other specifications.

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Washington, DC: Mr. Catoe:Thank you for taking the time to discuss this tragic incidence. I am under the impression that the metro operator was able to put on the emergency brakes a few hundred yards away from the next train. I'm not familar with how long it takes a train to stop but if the conductor was aware of an impending crash from this distance, I would hope that a collision would be avoided. Could you address this issue.Thank you,Jim

Reply: Hi Washington, DC, The NTSB has reported that the emergency brake, known as the "mushroom" was depressed and that the tracks and wheels showed signs of braking. A train weighs hundreds of tons and takes a long stretch of track to stop.

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Springfield, VA: Did WMATA estimate the cost of replacing all of the 1000 series cars after the 2004 accident, per NTSB's recommendation? Or estimate the cost of retrofitting them as recommended? Are you able to share those cost estimates?

Reply: The cost of replacing rail cars is about $3 million per car. There are nearly 300 of the 1000-series rail cars. Metro needs at least $811 million in the next capital budget program to replace the 1000-series rail cars. We are aggressively seeking to replace the 1000-series rail cars, which were purchased between 1974 and 1978. These cars have a 40-year life and require replacement beginning in early fiscal 2015. We have been relentless in our pursuit of funding for the replacement of these rail cars. We were supported by our congressional delegation in trying to get funding in the President's budget. The President did not include funding in his proposed budget. Our congressional delegation submitted a request for funding in this year’s budget. That budget process is ongoing. In the meantime, we have taking all reasonable steps to keep the 1000-series rail cars in good condition. All have been rehabilitated or rebuilt to increase their longevity.

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Arlington, VA: What efforts are being made to have better and cleared information to the public. This has been an ongoing problem for years and seemed to come to a head with the accident this week. Is there training protocal etc?Thanks!

Reply: Hi Arlington. We have been very proactive in trying to get information out to the public. Immediately following the accident we issued 7 news releases to update the public. We posted more than 50 Twitter messages. We posted information on our web site that resulted in more than 1 million page views, double the views from the previous day. We made station announcements in the system and train operators made announcements as well. We also issued about a dozen e-alerts to 58,000 subscribers. We already have made some changes to the language we will be using in our e-alerts and our public address announcements.

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General Manager John Catoe: Unfortunately I have to move on to my next appointment, but I hope you found this time useful, and that I was able to provide some insight to you. Our goal is to run an accident-free system. When we don’t meet that goal, we have to know why and we have to take action to do better. We are grateful for the work of the NTSB, and for those who responded to the accident. You are heroes in our eyes. Our thoughts go out to the families of those who were killed and to those injured. This is a difficult time, and we hope you will take advantage of the support we offer. Let me end by repeating something I said earlier.

I believe that in spite of this tragic accident, we have a safe system. I also believe that because of this accident, we will devote even more time and energy to safety, to finding out the cause, and implementing improvements.