At about 6:52AM EST on Tuesday, January 2, 2018, the third car of an eight-car 7000-series train preparing to enter revenue service at Shady Grove station (A15) derailed while passing a switch within the Shady Grove rail yard (A99). The only personnel aboard the train at the time of the derailment was the train operator, who was uninjured. Damages to the railcars and track infrastructure are still being assessed by Metro.
The non-revenue train was traversing the outer of the two “loop tracks,” which curve around the northern side of the yard, destined for Shady Grove station; upon arrival, it was expected to enter revenue service as Red Line Train 107.
The train’s operator reported a derailment of the 3rd car in the train, car 7297, after feeling the train jerk. Montgomery County Fire and Rescue was dispatched to the scene as well as WMATA Emergency Management, Automatic Train Control, Car Maintenance, and Kawasaki personnel.
The derailment was reported over the diamond interlocking by signal A99/26. The train was intended to receive a straight-through move from A99/26 signal to A15/36 signal at Shady Grove station.
A diesel locomotive known as a Prime Mover from within the Shady Grove rail yard was dispatched to begin re-railing the train car once the incident investigation completed.
Second incident shuts down
A separate incident in which smoke was seen emanating from the Shady Grove rail yard Traction Power Station (TPS) was reported at approximately 7am. All power to the yard was brought down to allow WMATA Power crews and MCFRS to investigate.
During this time, handbrakes were applied to multiple cars on unsecured trains stored in the rail yard and train moves within the yard were halted.
The yard was reenergized at around 7:45am.
###
Rail Transit OPS Group is an independent, publicly-funded organization that monitors rail transit operations, performance, and safety procedures to proactively address potential issues. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
railtransitops.org 