Feds may be stepping in to ensure Metro safety

WASHINGTON - Safety has been a top priority for Metro after the horrific collision on the Red Line in June.

But when it comes to safety, who's watching to make sure the transit agency stays on track?

The little-known Tri-State Oversight Committee has the primary responsibility of keeping an eye on Metro, but has no direct authority over safety and cannot order Metro to make changes.

Now, the federal government may be stepping in.

"We're working on recommendations right now to move forward as far as rail safety reforms so there is a more robust and uniform federal presence in addressing the minimum safety requirements that all our rail transit operators need to have," Federal Transit Administration Chief Peter Rogoff tells WTOP.

The summer collision that killed nine people between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations spurred an intense response on the federal level to ensure transit systems are as safe as possible.

"This deals with oversight. It deals with enforcement. It deals with best practices and seeking to standardize those and bringing the most up-to-date safety methods to bear on all of our rail transit operators," Rogoff says.

"Currently, there isn't the authority within the federal transit code to allow us to regulate safety. In fact, we are prohibited by law from doing so. This is at the core of the issues that we are looking at and intending to seek reforms."

The person spear-heading this effort at the FTA knows a thing or two about the Metro system.

Former Maryland Transportation Secretary John Porcari -- now the Deputy Secretary at FTA -- is leading the charge.

More than three months after the collision on the Red Line, the National Transportation Safety Board still has not pinpointed an exact cause of the crash.

The NTSB has said, however, that Metro's automated signaling system -- which is designed to keep trains a safe distance apart -- did malfunction on that day.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)