Preliminary Statement on WMATA Green Line Near Miss between Track Walkers and Train

At about 11:48am on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, there was a potential near miss between #WMATA track personnel and a train between West Hyattsville and PG Plaza stations.

A group of track personnel were in the process of inspecting the track between PG Plaza and West Hyattsville. They had requested Foul Time protection while walking through a blind (limited visibility) curve. Foul Time protection means that trains are prohibited from entering the requested area until track personnel report being clear, and the Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) allows train movement to resume. In this case, trains were not allowed to be traveling from West Hyattsville to PG Plaza during this time.

Preliminary indications are that ROCC failed to hold a train at West Hyattsville until the track crew had cleared the area. It appears that neither Rail Traffic Controller (RTC) with responsibility over the Green Line attempted to contact the train operator to verify that the train should hold at West Hyattsville due to the Foul Time granted ahead of the train.

No injuries were reported. WMATA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. This incident remains under investigation.

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Rail Transit OPS Group is an independent, publicly-funded group that monitors rail transit operations, performance, and safety procedures to proactively address potential issues. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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