(The following article by Sara Kehaulani Goo was posted on the Washington Post website on May 11.)
WASHINGTON — The brake problem that sidelined Acela high-speed trains last month appears to be the result of fatigue in the metal components, according to preliminary assessment by Amtrak’s inspector general, and similar problems may have been reported as far back as two years ago.
Acela’s manufacturer said the hairline cracks in brake components were far more prevalent than previously believed, but it noted that no brake had failed in the 4Æ years that the high-speed train has been in service.
Amtrak is losing $1 million every week that the Acela Express line is out of service and faces a serious cash crunch to continue operations through the end of the current fiscal year, according to William Crosbie, Amtrak’s vice president of operations.
Meanwhile, the April 15 shutdown of the high-speed service continues to inconvenience thousands of commuters on Amtrak’s Northeast corridor, which runs between Washington, New York, and Boston.
Amtrak has substituted more regular-speed Metroliner service between the three cities to make up for the loss of the Acela service.
Today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on railroads plans to hold a hearing about what caused the brake problem that was discovered by chance on April 14 during routine tests. The Washington Post obtained written testimony of witnesses scheduled to testify, including those from Amtrak, Amtrak’s inspector general, Acela’s manufacturers, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the Government Accountability Office.
According to written testimony, tiny cracks — some invisible to the naked eye — were found initially by FRA safety specialist Rich Thomas on April 14, when he noticed that the components initially appeared to be rusted.
The discovery resulted in an inspection of all Acela brake systems that found cracks in 300 of 1,440 brake disks. Amtrak officials decided immediately to take the trains out of service for an indefinite period, although they hope to have the service back by this summer.