Anonymous wrote:When metro trains derail, it’s usually a minor derailment not the kind of thing where trains are completely off the track. It can cause injuries because of the sudden stopping, and it damages the train and the tracks, but it’s not likely to throw people into the Potomac.

Not that the above makes it ok.

The car that started it all derailed 3 times in one day leaving pieces of the breaking system behind each time. “Minor” maybe but clearly it becomes cumulatively impactful and that’s the real problem. Each “minor” derailment increases the likelihood of another derailment of continually increased severity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

It's completely unacceptable. Only killed 15 or so... Sorry, but you should listen to yourself. Plenty of other cities with much smaller transportation budgets manage to not have nearly the amount of issues WMATA has.

15 people in 12 years? How many people have died in traffic since then? Metro is an order of magnitude safer than any other transportation mode in DC, except for maybe the bus.

This is really sad and pathetic whataboutism. To iliustrate, let’s use a different example: only 2 737 Max crashed killing 700? What about all the people who died in traffic? The 737 Max is orders of magnitude safer than other transportation modes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In light of the latest derailments scandal, has anyone considered that one of these trains could derail over the Potomac and fall into the water? I’ve been wondering about this for years. When you couple this poorly run system coupled with the previous scandal of falsified rail inspections a few years ago, tell me why this isn’t feasible. With no accountability, I feel like WMATA is a time bomb- we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

Between 2017 and 2021, an average of 527 people PER YEAR were killed in traffic crashes in the National Capitol region. Plus an average of 3,100 serious injuries PER YEAR.

With no accountability, I feel like all of the local departments of transportation are a time bomb.

Most of those are driver error. Vehicle malfunction likely causes some. Road design/maintenance probably causes very few. DOT is only responsible for the last one.

Road design causes a great number of them, including most of the ones you're putting in the "driver error" category.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In light of the latest derailments scandal, has anyone considered that one of these trains could derail over the Potomac and fall into the water? I’ve been wondering about this for years. When you couple this poorly run system coupled with the previous scandal of falsified rail inspections a few years ago, tell me why this isn’t feasible. With no accountability, I feel like WMATA is a time bomb- we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

Between 2017 and 2021, an average of 527 people PER YEAR were killed in traffic crashes in the National Capitol region. Plus an average of 3,100 serious injuries PER YEAR.

With no accountability, I feel like all of the local departments of transportation are a time bomb.

Most of those are driver error. Vehicle malfunction likely causes some. Road design/maintenance probably causes very few. DOT is only responsible for the last one.

Aren’t trains more likely to derail on turns? The bridge is straight so no, I don’t worry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In light of the latest derailments scandal, has anyone considered that one of these trains could derail over the Potomac and fall into the water? I’ve been wondering about this for years. When you couple this poorly run system coupled with the previous scandal of falsified rail inspections a few years ago, tell me why this isn’t feasible. With no accountability, I feel like WMATA is a time bomb- we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

Between 2017 and 2021, an average of 527 people PER YEAR were killed in traffic crashes in the National Capitol region. Plus an average of 3,100 serious injuries PER YEAR.

With no accountability, I feel like all of the local departments of transportation are a time bomb.

+1,000,000

Nailed it.

Anonymous wrote:In light of the latest derailments scandal, has anyone considered that one of these trains could derail over the Potomac and fall into the water? I’ve been wondering about this for years. When you couple this poorly run system coupled with the previous scandal of falsified rail inspections a few years ago, tell me why this isn’t feasible. With no accountability, I feel like WMATA is a time bomb- we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

Between 2017 and 2021, an average of 527 people PER YEAR were killed in traffic crashes in the National Capitol region. Plus an average of 3,100 serious injuries PER YEAR.

With no accountability, I feel like all of the local departments of transportation are a time bomb.

Anonymous wrote:In light of the latest derailments scandal, has anyone considered that one of these trains could derail over the Potomac and fall into the water? I’ve been wondering about this for years. When you couple this poorly run system coupled with the previous scandal of falsified rail inspections a few years ago, tell me why this isn’t feasible. With no accountability, I feel like WMATA is a time bomb- we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

It's possible, but there are all sorts of unlikely things that are possible (a station roof could collapse, a train tunnel could collapse, a train could unexpectedly start going the wrong direction, any number of terrorist attacks or mass shootings in the system could happen). Seems pointless for random riders to sit around thinking about the catastrophes that could happen. Derailments usually don't involve actually flying off the track, more like slipping; I think it would have to be a more spectacular type of accident than Metro has had yet for a train to go off a bridge into the river.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

It's completely unacceptable. Only killed 15 or so... Sorry, but you should listen to yourself. Plenty of other cities with much smaller transportation budgets manage to not have nearly the amount of issues WMATA has.

15 people in 12 years? How many people have died in traffic since then? Metro is an order of magnitude safer than any other transportation mode in DC, except for maybe the bus.

When metro trains derail, it’s usually a minor derailment not the kind of thing where trains are completely off the track. It can cause injuries because of the sudden stopping, and it damages the train and the tracks, but it’s not likely to throw people into the Potomac.

Not that the above makes it ok.

Anonymous wrote:we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.

It's completely unacceptable. Only killed 15 or so... Sorry, but you should listen to yourself. Plenty of other cities with much smaller transportation budgets manage to not have nearly the amount of issues WMATA has.

Well that bridge has always looked sketchy to me regarding the potential for a plunge if their were a derailment.

It could happen, and not just there but other sections of elevated track (Red line by RI ave, Blue/Orange/Silver by RFK, etc.)

However, a lot of accidents come when stopping, switching tracks, or going around a curve and those are not things that happen on the bridge over the Potomac so maybe that will put your mind at ease. Metro is still probably safer than driving or biking.

No, no I haven't.

In light of the latest derailments scandal, has anyone considered that one of these trains could derail over the Potomac and fall into the water? I’ve been wondering about this for years. When you couple this poorly run system coupled with the previous scandal of falsified rail inspections a few years ago, tell me why this isn’t feasible. With no accountability, I feel like WMATA is a time bomb- we’re fortunate they’ve only killed 15 or so people since 2009.