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2009 Metro train collision (Washington, D.C.)

USA / Maryland / Takoma Park / Washington, D.C.
 train, railway accident site (derailment, collision, etc)
During the evening rush hour on June 22nd, 2009, two southbound Metrorail trains traveling Red Line collided on the same track at 5:02pm (17:02), with one train running into the back of another stopped ahead of it.

The resulting collision killed the train operator and eight passengers and injured 80 people, making this the deadliest accident in the history of the Washington Metro. Following a legnhty investigation, the NTSB faulted newly installed and probably inoperative track signals for failing to alert the train in motion of the presence of the stopped train, causing the accident.
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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Washington_Metro_accident
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°57'35"N   77°0'20"W

Comments

  • navyguyhm3
    Looking at the news and the aerial pictures from the news choppers, you can clearly see this is the correct area of train collision. The long building next to the tracks is the key landmark.
  • outofdc (guest)
    As fate would have it, the collision appears to have happened in a rare spot not that close to adjoining roadways for easier emergency vehicle access. My condolences to the victims.
  • rumiki
    The bridge above also proves that it's the correct place. Two facts are totally clear to me. First, the speed was no less than 30 mph. Should the train be slower, it would have never climbed up onto the other one. The impact was really strong. Thus, since the train in front was standing, the two of trains had been enough distant at the moment when Jeanice McMillan (R.I.P.) decided to resume the motion. In other words, her train had enough space in front to reach, probably, the maximum, or around so, speed. Second, let's take a closer look at the crash area. There is a long and at the same time tight curve. But the trees close the view in front! Meaning, Jeanice wasn't guilty. Considering that the speed was, as I suppose, up to 40...55 mph, when the train came out from behind the trees, and she, as the automatics refused to act, absolutely all of sudden, saw a standing train, she had no more than two seconds to bring her train into a halt. Considering reaction time of the operator and reaction time of the braking system... she simply had no chance to help the situtation. Most likely, she struck on brakes in the last second of her life, and, if she did, the automatic recorder will show it, but... it was too late, anyway. Although, who knows, maybe that second saved a few lives. Those who work on passive safety of vehicles know that every mile an hour can play a critical role. It's a big tragedy for all of us, it can happen in every city that has a Metro system. In Moscow, we also have an automatic distance regulation system. What if it fails one day? I would suggest our Metro government to pay attention to this case and check everything, but I doubt they will. Moscow Metro is almost completely hidden under ground. Should it happen in a tunnel, there could be many more victims. And in a tunnel there are even less chances to see anything in front behind a curve. My sincere condolences... Mikhail, Moscow, Russia.
This article was last modified 14 years ago