U.S. officials to take direct safety oversight of Washington subway
By Ian Simpson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. officials will take over direct safety supervision of Washington's troubled subway system under a plan announced by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Friday.
Foxx transferred safety oversight of Washington's Metrorail, the second-busiest U.S. subway system, to the Federal Transit Administration. Metrorail has long been plagued by smoky tunnels, breakdowns and deadly accidents.
Foxx had turned down an urgent recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that the Federal Railroad Administration put the Washington system under its watch. That move would require congressional approval and the Transportation Department said it would cause unnecessary delays.
"This increased oversight means that FTA will now directly enforce and investigate the safety oversight of ... Metrorail," Foxx wrote in a letter responding to the NTSB's proposal made last week.
A copy of the letter was carried by the Washington Post online. The newspaper said the move marked the first time a U.S. subway system had been placed under direct federal supervision for safety lapses.
Foxx also said that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), Metrorail's parent, must hire a general manager quickly. The agency has been without a permanent top executive since January.
The NTSB said last month that an investigation had found little improvement in WMATA's safety oversight since a 2009 Metrorail accident that killed nine people.
In the past 33 years, the NTSB has conducted 11 investigations into WMATA rail accidents that have killed a total of 18 people. A woman died and more than 80 were made ill in January when a train became stranded in a smoky tunnel.
WMATA's safety supervision is currently overseen by the six-member Tri-State Oversight Committee, but Foxx said the panel lacked resources and enforcement authority. The WMATA serves the District of Columbia as well as the U.S. capital's Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Eric Beech and Sandra Maler)
