Breakfast links: Still safer than driving, but how safe?

by David Alpert • August 10, 2009 8:38 am

Photo by futureatlas.com.

Another Metro fatality: A track worker was struck and killed by track maintenance equipment at Vienna last night. A near crash, a fatal crash, and now this give greater credence to arguments that Metro lacks the necessary safety culture. It's also reminiscent of the 2005-6 period where four Metro workers died in three separate incidents. (Post)

Near-crash kept secret: A Metro train almost hit another near Potomac Avenue three months before the June crash. The automated system failed to stop a train in time, and the operator hit the manual brakes. Metro didn't reveal the incident publicly or tell the NTSB. Unlike the June crash, this incident involved a failure of equipment on the train instead of on the tracks. (Post)

Sidewalks: Prudent or fascist?: Roger Lewis endorses universal sidewalks, examining and rebutting the arguments against installing them. Of course, he concludes, DDOT also has to sensitively design the sidewalks to best address residents' concerns. To their credit, they have generally done just that in the recent additions. (Post) ... One Palisades resident called sidewalk installation "the sort of thing fascist governments do." (Current)

Feet in the Street really in the Park: DDOT announced more details of its inaugural Ciclovia/Summer Streets, called "Feet in the Street," at Fort Dupont Park on Saturday, August 29th. As Richard Layman points out, though, it's more in the park than the street, and there's a good chance many people will drive to this "car-free celebration." In fact, the press release explains how to drive and park there. It's great that DC is trying this and officials will gain experience to make future events better. But next year, it should run along a boulevard connecting multiple neighborhoods, like the events in other cities that inspired it, bringing it within easy walking or biking distance of as many residents as possible. (RPUS)

Most prefer MARC to Hagerstown: In an unscientific Web poll by NBC25 (Hagerstown), 73% prefer MARC extension to widening I-270. The poll ties into a story on ACT's transit alternative to the widening. (Your4State)

Highways displace streetcars, again: In the mid-20th Century, growing automobile dominance pushed streetcars out of most American cities. Now, ironically, ICC construction is displacing the National Capital Trolley Museum from its current location north of Glenmont. The museum will reopen at a nearby site later this year. (MPW)

Take me out on the water to the ballgame: A water taxi will soon start giving rides to and from Nats games. It'll connect the ballpark to Alexandria and National Harbor. The adjacent park is also under construction; fans will be able to picnic before games once it opens. (WTOP)

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David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington and Greater Greater Education. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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What? Nothing about the premiere of the Marion Barry documentary on HBO tonight?

by JTS on Aug 10, 2009 9:20 am • link • report

Has anyone among the reads of this blog bothered to visit the route of the abandoned B&O Railroad line between Brunswick and Hagerstown? I have, about 20 years ago. The easement follows a slow, narrow and curvy route over 2/3 of itÂ’s distances. The curvy easement is akin to Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park with the only difference being, the line has a continues upwards grade of more the 2% over the same 2/3 distance. If fully restored the average speed trains could make on the line would something under 30MPH.

by Sand Box John on Aug 10, 2009 10:04 am • link • report

A Hagerstown extension to the MARC system makes very little sense unless it is after an upgrade to the entire MARC Brunswick line. The travel times simply don't make for an attractive commute. As mentioned by the previous poster, the abandoned line is nowhere near up to speed and would require many expensive improvements (cuts, bridges, straightenings, 15+ road crossings) just to maintain even MARC Brunswick level speed performance. Even if that could be accomplished the ride from Hagerstown to the junction near Knoxville would take ~40 minutes. Add in the currently scheduled Harper's Ferry Brunswick train time to Union Station and you've got a 2:15 train ride. Each Way. Even getting to Rockville would be a 90 minute trip. These times are on-time performance, and train trip only. They don't include getting to the station, waiting for train, or getting to the work destination after the train.

Just who would this upgrade serve? Washington County (2000 census, so lower than current) sends 2,355 commuters to Montgomery County and 474 commuters to Washington DC. Compare this to the flow from Frederick County, 22,867 to Montgomery and 3,025 to Washington DC. So Washington County has about ~10% of the Frederick County flow. Frederick County currently has 9 trains a day (6 going through Brunswick, 3 coming from the city of Frederick) on the MARC line, these trains don't fill up in Frederick, they fill up later down the line in Montgomery.

If you compare the 2:15 train ride from Hagerstown to the Penn Line, you'd have to go beyond the scheduled service of Perryville to get a comparable travel time. Obviously, the Perryville service is not there to serve Union Station, it's to serve Baltimore. The same trains just continue on down the line. Extending the Brunswick line to Hagerstown to alleviate traffic on I-270 is the equivalent of extending the Penn Line to Elkton to alleviate traffic on I-95 between Baltimore and Washington.

Finding a way to upgrade service and speed on the existing Brunswick line makes sense. Expensive extensions of already slow train service to areas with few commuters does not.

by Brian D on Aug 10, 2009 10:49 am • link • report

The specifics of the latest fatality of a Metro worker are unclear and I don't want to speculate about cause.

The report of another failure of an ATP component is noteworthy. This is the second published report of a failure of a vital piece of ATP equipment prior to the Ft. Totten accident.

In the latest incident reported at Potomac Ave, the train was stopped by the operator within 500 feet of another train (1200 feet is the absolute limit). In the 2005 Foggy Bottom incident, one train stopped within 35 feet of another and another trailing train stopped within 12 feet of the 2nd train.

All three failures (including the Ft. Totten accident) were apparently by different components. WMATA notes this and stresses these are very different circumstances than the Ft. Totten accident. This misses the point entirely and indicates that WMATA management still does not grasp the severity of the situation.

If these near misses had been analyzed and acted on, we would perhaps have a redundant ATP system or be well on our way toward installing one. Instead, WMATA is scrambling now to figure out what type of system to install as a result of the fatal accident.

There is not a component built that will never fail--hence the need for redundancy. Those who have failed to grasp this as a result of previous incidents need to be accountable for their error in judgment.

by kreeggo on Aug 10, 2009 11:11 am • link • report

Americans use the words communism and fascism too lightly. Worse, many don't understand the difference.

by Jasper on Aug 10, 2009 12:34 pm • link • report

"Those who have failed to grasp this as a result of previous incidents need to be accountable for their error in judgment."

Agreed. Metro's blase attitude on safety has to stop. It's unforgivable that Metro executives have chosen to constantly spin and dissemble in response to the system's severe safety problems. It's time for heads to roll in Metro's executive suites.

Just for comparison purposes, currently the S-Bahn in Berlin is experiencing service problems as a result of a safety issue revealed by a derailment that didn't even cause injuries, let alone fatalities. In response, the CEO and the entire board of the S-Bahn resigned. If only this would happen with Metro..

by Phil on Aug 10, 2009 1:11 pm • link • report

And Metro wants more funding?

And don't tell me its under-funded. Not having enough money has NOTHING to do with not releasing information about a near-collision.

People are starting to see Metro for what it is, another big-government, big-union patronage gravy boat. I fear for the good residents of Tysons Corner who will now have a train of death bearing down on their city.

by MPC on Aug 10, 2009 1:51 pm • link • report

@MPC: I fear for the good residents of Tysons Corner who will now have a train of death bearing down on their city

Right on dude! Metro is a hell of a lot less safe than I-495, Rt 7, 123, 267. Nobody ever died there!

by Jasper on Aug 10, 2009 2:00 pm • link • report

I am saddened that Metro keeps killing people.

by Omari on Aug 10, 2009 2:57 pm • link • report

Metro's failure to report the previous near-accidents to the NTSB borders on criminal malfeasance.

Nine people died at Fort Totten, and yet Metro did not report similar near-misses to federal investigators because they did not appear to have involved the same equipment failure. Totally unacceptable. Catoe should either resign or fire the person responsible. Period.

Sadly, I doubt if any higher-up will be dismissed or be forced to resign as a result of what has been discovered or what is yet to be discovered.

The DC shuffle still rules. It's nobody's fault. No one takes responsibility. No one takes blame. They all promise to turn over a new leaf. And nothing changes. The caravan moves on.

by Mike S. on Aug 10, 2009 4:05 pm • link • report

I think we will have to wait for the NTSB's report before we see any real accountability. Until then Metro executives will continue to spin, spin, spin in an effort to preserve their careers.

It takes a long time, unfortunately, for the NTSB to conclude their meticulous investigations. I wonder how many more people will die on Metro in the meantime..

by Phil on Aug 10, 2009 4:34 pm • link • report

"Has anyone among the reads of this blog bothered to visit the route of the abandoned B&O Railroad line between Brunswick and Hagerstown?"

Yes, a friend lives within a stones throw of the line, and I have hiked most of it, from Weverton to Keedysville. It is actually not very curvy at all, with the exception of the initial turn off the existing ROW. The bigger problem is that the line was completely torn up in the mid seventies. There are no bridges remaining, and in many places the former grade crossings have altered the grade in ways that would make it more expensive than normal to restore.

The rural nature and lack of population would not be a serious problem. The only likely stop would be at Keedysville, but the lack of stations would just increase the speed of any trains using the line. However, this line is not going to happen for another reason.

The current end of the line south of Hagerstown is the huge State Prison at Roxbury. The line literally goes through the middle of the prison. This is the reason that the abandoned portion of the line has not been converted to a hiker/biker trail connecting to the Appalachian Trail.

If there ever is a line to Hagerstown, it is certain to use the Norfolk Southern line. This would allow stations in Shepherdstown, near the college, and maybe Sharpsburg, although it would be a hike from the existing station site to the Battlefield. However, this line would be even more circuitous than the B&O line, or the existing Frederick line.

by kinverson on Aug 10, 2009 4:36 pm • link • report

"The current end of the line south of Hagerstown is the huge State Prison at Roxbury. The line literally goes through the middle of the prison. This is the reason that the abandoned portion of the line has not been converted to a hiker/biker trail connecting to the Appalachian Trail."

This isn't quite true, while the line does go through the prison it doesn't end there. You can see that the right of way is preserved all the way into Hagerstown. (In fact, it is even marked as a railroad in Google Maps.)

by Phil on Aug 10, 2009 4:55 pm • link • report

I also meant to say in my last post that the prison isn't an insurmountable obstacle. You could just reroute the line, the area around the prison isn't very built up. (Either that or build a tunnel..)

by Phil on Aug 10, 2009 4:57 pm • link • report

No doubt it would cost quite a bit of money to restore passenger rail service to Hagerstown. But remember that this idea comes up after the state has already spent money on a study of road widenings in the 270 corridor that would cost almost $4 billion.

How much would it cost? How many people would ride MARC from Washington County, if there were direct transfers to four other rail lines serving Montgomery County job centers, as the ACT transit-only plan provides? We don't know.

All anyone is asking for now is a study of these ideas. Then people can reach a reasoned opinion about whether $4 billion buys more values if spent on I-270 or on transit.

by Ben Ross on Aug 10, 2009 5:01 pm • link • report

I would love to see rail to Hagerstown. I lived in Keedysville for a short time, about 20 ft. from the old station, and I might have stayed in that area if there was a train to D.C. right across the street. I just don't see a way around the prison issue.

I should have been clearer about the present status of the line. There are tracks in place from the yard/junction in downtown Hagerstown south to just north of the prison. These tracks are in rough shape, probably a 10 mph limit. I'm not sure if they are used at all now, there used to be a junkyard or construction company or something just north of the prison that got a couple of carloads a week.

Through the prison itself, and south to the Brunswick line, the tracks and all structures have been scrapped. The ROW is within a couple of dozen yards of high security cell blocks (And no, I've never been in this prison, just lived nearby). The prison is one of the largest in MD, and one of the most modern, so it's not going anywhere. I just don't see this rail line being reinstated.

I would love to see passenger rail on the NS line. Ben, you make a good point about the transfers that might be possible. Few people from Wash. Co. and points west and north commute all the way to D.C. (although there are a surprising amount). There might be a good demand for service to Germantown, Gaithersburg and Rockville with the possible stations on an extended Red line and CCT.

by kinverson on Aug 10, 2009 6:18 pm • link • report

Or maybe, jasper, she knows that one set of facists did build a great set of roads.

by Ah on Aug 11, 2009 5:59 pm • link • report