ATU to FTA: Latest Near-Miss Incident Exposes Lack of Real Flagging Protection on Metro Tracks
The near-miss yellow line track incident once again exposes the lack of real flagger protection for WMATA track workers and inspectors, wrote the Amalgamated Transit Union International (ATU) in a letter to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) demanding “emergency actions” at WMATA.
The latest incident, involving three track workers having to jump out of the way of an approaching train as it barreled toward their work area on the Yellow Line, comes just a month after ATU warned that WMATA’s high-tech alerter devices are no substitute for PRIMARY flagger protection for employees.
“It is literally a matter of life and death. There have been far too many ‘near-misses’ that have almost killed WMATA track workers, a rail traffic controller and FRA inspector, who literally had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by passing trains,” writes ATU International President Larry Hanley in the letter to the FTA. “I call on the FTA to take emergency actions to compel WMATA to provide a truly protective flagger system for track workers to avoid the tragic and totally preventable loss of life on Metro’s rail transit system.”
Last October, FRA investigators were almost killed in a ‘near-miss’ incident involving passing trains as they scrambled, almost too late, to get out of the way. Multiple incidents also occurred on six separate days last July and August.
“Metro has turned to testing what we know is a totally ineffective and inadequate high-tech armband signal device to forewarn workers of approaching trains. They will not work and do not offer anything near the protection that would have precluded these ‘near misses’ or ‘close calls’," the letter continues.
“As industry experts well know, these armbands are designed and intended as secondary warning devices which assume that an appropriate PRIMARY system is in place to protect employees on the tracks which is far from the case at WMATA where crews are given a vest, a watch person with a whistle and/or air horn, and sent out to dodge trains moving at up to 50 miles per hour, or through work zones.”
Designed for outside railroads with long lines-of-sight and long curves, where work is typically performed during daylight hours, these alerter devices might provide early warning as an adequate buffer on interstate railroads. However, such flagging systems are wholly inadequate for inner city railroads such as the WMATA system — a work environment of tunnels, subways and sharp curves where traffic is far more frequent, work is underground and most often not exposed to daylight.
“An adequate primary flagging system in an inner-city railroad like WMATA must provide ‘positive’ protection to warn, slow and hold approaching trains until all employees are determined to be clear of oncoming trains,” the letter continues.
“As FTA fulfills its safety oversight of WMATA, we believe it is incumbent upon the agency to ensure that WMATA institute the necessary safeguards to protect the lives of its workers and the passengers we serve. What steps and immediate action is the agency taking to ensure that these systems are put in place to prevent the needless loss of life?” the letter continues.
