NTSB TO RELEASE FACTUAL REPORTS ON TWO WASHINGTON, DC SUBWAY ACCIDENTS

[NTSB Press Releases <NTSBPressReleases@xxxxxxxx>]

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                       NTSB ADVISORY
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National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594

October 23, 2007

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NTSB TO RELEASE FACTUAL REPORTS ON TWO WASHINGTON, DC SUBWAY 
ACCIDENTS


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Washington, D.C. - As part of its continuing investigations 
into two metrorail accidents the National Transportation 
Safety Board will open public dockets and release a series 
of factual reports on Thursday, October 25, 2007, at 11:00 
am. 

The two docket items are:

*               About 10:16 a.m. on Sunday, May 14, 2006, a southbound 
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) 
Metrorail Red Line subway train struck and fatally 
injured a Metrorail employee as the train was about to 
enter the Dupont Circle station in Washington, D.C. 
The fatally injured employee was an automatic train 
control system mechanic who had been working with two 
other mechanics at the interlocking just north of the 
Dupont Circle station. All three mechanics moved 
between the two main tracks north of the interlocking 
in order to stay clear of a northbound train that was 
leaving the station and the southbound accident train 
that was arriving. The two non-injured mechanics 
remained in the clear between the two trains as they 
passed. According to signal system data logs, the 
southbound train was moving about 40 mph as it 
traveled past the interlocking. 
 

*               About 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 30, 2006, a 
northbound Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 
Authority (WMATA) Metrorail Yellow Line subway train 
struck and fatally injured two Metrorail employees who 
were performing a routine walking inspection along an 
outdoor section of main track.  The accident occurred 
near the Eisenhower Avenue Metrorail station in 
Alexandria, Virginia as the northbound train was 
traveling along track normally used for southbound 
traffic.

	
        The information being released is factual in nature and 
does not provide any analysis. It will include investigative 
factual reports, interview transcripts, and other documents 
from the investigation. Additional material will be added to 
the dockets as it becomes available. Analysis of the 
accidents, along with conclusions and a determination of 
probable cause, will come at a later date when the final 
reports on the investigations are completed.

        For news media representatives, a CD-ROM containing the 
docket material will be available from the Office of Public 
Affairs, NTSB Headquarters (6th floor), 490 L'Enfant Plaza, 
S.W., Washington, D.C. beginning at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, 
October 25, 2007. Docket material also can be obtained from 
the NTSB's Public Inquiries Branch by calling (202) 314-
6551, or from General Microfilm, Inc., (304) 267-5830.

        This will be a document release only; no interviews will 
be conducted.


Media Contact:  Keith Holloway, (202) 314-6100
hollowk@xxxxxxxx 






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