2009 Metro Accident

Floor Speech

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I rise today to mark a sad day for the National Capital region. On the eve of the 1 year anniversary of the deadliest accident in Metro's history, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the families of the nine victims who perished on June 22, 2009. On that day around 5 p.m., a Red Line train collided with another train that sat stopped between the Takoma and Fort Totten stops as it waited for the Fort Totten station to clear. The first car of the moving train, an outdated model over 30 years old, sustained tremendous structural damage which resulted in significant casualties. As Virginian, this issue is especially important to me because 1 of the 9 victims who died--the train's operator--as well as 15 of the 80 people injured were fellow Virginians.

The unfortunate events of that day shed light on some glaring problems with our Nation's public transportation systems, and should provide us with a sense of urgency to accomplish the task of ensuring the safety of public transportation users.

Metro itself and its oversight agency--the Tri-State Oversight Committee--TOC--are both in dire need of reform. While it has taken steps towards addressing the problem, Metro needs to continue to make safety its top priority. Full analysis of potential hazards and safety concerns needs to be done, and Metro must start regimented data collection efforts so that safety problems can be tracked and prioritized. Top Metro executives--those with decisionmaking authority--need to be involved in critical safety conversations, and need to have the relevant information in their hands when making important safety decisions.

I am proud that we have been able to provide $1.5 billion in Federal funds over 10 years to make capital improvements to Metro, but this cannot be a blank check. Replacing the outdated 1000 series railcars is a huge priority, and Metro is poised to sign the contract that will enable them to phase
out the older cars with newer, safer models. But more needs to be done. Metro needs to demonstrate safety improvements it has been making and ensure that it will continue to make safety its top priority if it expects continued financial support.

More broadly, this accident has highlighted that the safety of our public transportation systems should be a priority nationwide. We have been working in the Senate developing a legislative approach to ensuring proper safety standards are in place. Incredibly, FTA currently has no authority to regulate our Nation's transit agencies or develop national safety standards. A new draft bill developed by Senators Dodd, Shelby, and Menendez will give FTA the tools to develop a national transit safety plan while also providing states the resources and flexibility to develop more robust transit safety oversight. The Banking Committee, of which I am a member, will soon consider this legislation and I am pleased that we are moving towards making progress in this area so that preventable tragedies, such as the one that occurred a year ago, will be a thing of the past.

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