Metro deals with fourth derailment in two weeks

WASHINGTON -- It was another tough commute for Metro riders Wednesday morning after a fourth train derailment in two weeks.

A huge piece of maintenance equipment went off the tracks near the Cheverly rail station on the Orange Line.

"This is highly unusual," Metro spokesperson Steven Taubenkibel tells WTOP.

In the latest incident, the front wheels of a massive piece of equipment, known as a prime mover, popped off and damaged the tracks as it headed toward New Carrollton. A couple hundred feet of those tracks had to be fixed near the Cheverly station.

Two weeks ago, another large piece of maintenance equipment -- a vacuum truck that picks up debris along the rails -- derailed twice on the Orange Line. First in the morning near the Clarendon station, and in the afternoon near the East Falls Church Stop.

Metro says the wheels literally fell off the truck and it is still out of commission.

In addition, a team of investigators is taking a look at a section of track near the Mt. Vernon Square/7th Street/Convention Center station on the Yellow and Green lines. An empty, passenger train derailed at that station on the same day there were issues with the vacuum truck on the Orange Line.

Metro has had track issues at the Mt. Vernon Square/7th Street/Convention Center station in the past. In 2007, a Green Line Metro train derailment injured 23 people there.

One protective guard rail has now been installed along that section of track and another is scheduled to be installed in a couple of weeks.

No one has been injured in any of these episodes.

"These are all different in terms of the different type of equipment," Taubenkibel says. "Any time there is an incident we'll follow up, but the system is very safe."

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