Transportation Department threatens D.C. Metro shutdown if safety doesn't improve

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx threatened Tuesday to suspend the D.C. subway if the system fails to make immediate changes to fix dangerous safety lapses.

Foxx said he "would have no hesitation to shut down the system,"  the nation's second largest, if safety doesn't improve.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's subway system, known locally as the Metro, carries the second largest number of passengers in the nation. Metro's six lines serve 91 stations and traverse 117 miles of track.

Foxx's tough talk comes after Metro employees denied federal inspectors access to a metro tunnel on Thursday following an explosion of a third-rail insulator. The explosion significantly damaged the track and sprayed fiery metal and ceramic onto the platform at the Federal Center station.

"It's scary," Foxx said of video from the scene. "The culture of safety is not where we want to see it."

The Federal Transit Authority responded Saturday with a directive, issued by acting FTA Administrator Carolyn Flowers, threatening to withhold funds or shut down the system if improvements aren't made. She ordered Metro to mitigate fire and smoke hazards while improving emergency planning. The lapses in safety placed passengers and employees "at undue risk," she said.

Foxx did not set a deadline for fixing the problems, but FTA said safety training for all Metro workers must be completed by May 16.

Metro CEO Paul Wiedefeld will work with DOT  to implement the FTA directive, , said spokeswoman Morgan Dye.

Smoke and fire in the tunnels is a long-running concern for the transit authority.  A fire that filled a tunnel and the L'Enfant Plaza station with smoke in January 2015 killed one woman and sent 90 others to hospitals. A similar smoke incident at McPherson Square station in March forced Metro to shut the entire system for a day so it could conduct emergency inspections and make repairs. Since April 23, eight incidents involving fire or smoke forced evacuations and service suspensions, according to FTA.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigated the fatal smoke incident from 2015, ruled May 3 that Metro ignored safety provisions for years.

Subway officials on Friday announced a massive program of repairs to begin in June. The repairs will cause major delays for riders, but won't entirely shut down lines. The plan concentrates on trouble spots and will close sections of the track until repairs are finished.  In the past, the system made repairs at night and on weekends to avoid closing tracks during peak travel times.

But Foxx said his safety concerns go beyond the maintenance issues Metro vowed to tackle last week. The system cannot handle the power demands made by the Metro trains, Foxx said. To avoid fires and other mishaps, the system must reduce the power, he said. Federal officials recommend the rail system run six-car trains instead of eight-car trains,  and lower power use in stations so that trains start slower, Foxx said. Such measures would further inconvenience riders.

"I have great concerns," Foxx said. "There is an awful lot of work here to do to correct the problem."

Major repairs and major delays for DC Metro to begin in June

Investigators: D.C. Metro ignored safety provisions for years