(The National Transportation Safety Board issued the following on February 4, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board today released additional information about the Board’s scheduled public hearing as part of its ongoing investigation into the cause of the collision of two Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Metrorail Red Line trains. The collision occurred on June 22, 2009, between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations in Washington, D.C. As a result of this accident, there were nine fatalities and numerous injuries.
The hearing, which will now extend to three days, will convene at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C.
The agenda for the hearing, which will focus not only on the WMATA accident investigation, but also the adequacy of state and federal oversight of rail transit systems, as well as the characteristics of high reliability organizations, may be found at the end of this advisory.
Questioning the witnesses will be the Board of Inquiry, chaired by NTSB Board Member Robert L. Sumwalt, a technical panel composed of the NTSB investigative staff, and representatives from the following parties to the investigation: WMATA, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Amalgamated Transit Union, Tri-State Oversight Commission (TOC), Washington, D.C. Fire and EMS Department, Alstom Signaling, Inc., and Union Switch and Signal.
Witnesses at the hearing include representatives from the following organizations: WMATA, TOC, Massachusetts Department of Public Works, Regional Transit Authority (Illinois), California Public Utilities Commission, FTA, FRA, the American Public Transportation Association, University of California-Berkeley, U.S. Department of Energy and B&W Pantex.
Information from the hearing will be used by the NTSB to prepare the final report on the accident, including safety recommendations aimed at preventing similar accidents in the future.
The link for the hearing webcast will be found on the NTSB public hearing schedule Web page at http://www.ntsb.gov/events/hearing_sched.htm when it becomes available.
PUBLIC HEARING AGENDA
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23
– Opening statement and introductions
– Accident overview
– WMATA’s oversight of safety and operational actions to address safety issues
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24
– The Tri-State Oversight Committee (TOC) oversight of WMATA
– State safety oversight of rail transit systems
– Federal safety oversight of rail passenger systems
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25
– Characteristics of high reliability organizations
– Closing remarks