Event Review for SV Derailment at East Falls Church on July 29, 2016

Event Date: Friday, July 29, 2016

Event Time: About 6:14 AM EDT

Event Location: WMATA OR/SV East Falls Church Station (K05)

Event ID: 16-0205

Event Type: Mainline Derailment

On Friday, July 29, 2016 at about 6:14 AM EDT, WMATA Silver Line Train 602, a scheduled revenue train, derailed while traversing a crossover located east of the East Falls Church station, which services the Orange and Silver Lines. Train 602 consisted of 6 railcars: 3006, 3007, 3239, 3238, 5134, and 5135. The trailing truck of the fourth car and the lead truck of the fifth car derailed on switch 3 and came to rest on the west side of the interlocking beyond the crossing diamond. There were approximately 75 passengers aboard the train at the time of the derailment, with one passenger requesting medical treatment. Service was suspended from 6:14 AM on Friday, July 29, 2016 to 5:00 AM on August 1, 2016 between Ballston and West Falls Church/McLean. Damages were to the two trucks that derailed, underside railcar equipment, and to the interlocking infrastructure that required rails, ties, third rail segments to be replaced.

Train 602 was exiting the SafeTrack work zone between Ballston and East Falls Church and had passed signal K05/04, crossing over from Track K1 to K2 via switch 3 to resume normal operations when the derailment occurred. Switches K05-3A and K05-3B and associated signals were correctly aligned and illuminated.

Rail Transit OPS currently cannot comment on a cause or contributing factors of the derailment until all associated information recorded at the incident scene is publicly released and can be independently reviewed, as there is a difference of probable cause.