Metro firings rise over derailment, falsified track inspection records

Metro announced Thursday that 15 more employees have been fired after an investigation of the July derailment of an Orange Line train revealed falsified track inspection records.

The firings follow those of six other rail workers who were dismissed in December for falsifying inspection records, bringing to 21 the number of Metro employees fired over the incident.

At a Metro Board Safety Committee meeting Thursday, General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said those fired include 16 track inspectors and five supervisors.

All told, 35 Metro workers have been disciplined by being fired, suspended or demoted. The entire track inspection department will take a one-week refresher training course, officials said at the meeting.

The firings stem from a July 29 incident in which a Silver Line train derailed as it approached the East Falls Church station during the morning rush hour. The derailment severely damaged the mechanism that allows trains to switch tracks. About 60 passengers were evacuated, and one minor injury was sustained by a man who bumped his head.

A subsequent investigation found that track workers had falsified inspection reports for aging railroad ties that caused the accident. Mr. Wiedefeld told the committee that he has hired 10 new track inspectors and will bring in an outside company to write an inspection manual by the end of March.

After the initial firings in early January, the union that represents about 8,500 Metro workers shot back at officials, saying the employees were scapegoats.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 said during a Jan. 5 press conference that it would fight the firings.

“WMATA’s scorched-earth firings of low-level employees are serving mostly to silence all the employees from speaking out about what is really going on about the safety at WMATA,” union President Jackie Jeter said. “Front-line workers feel threatened and are thinking twice about telling what they know and see, which drives critical information to ensure safety underground.”