Metro lays out early plan for reincorporating suspended series of trains

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1. Senate committee seeks records on Metro's defective railcar wheel assemblies

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/10/metro-letter-derailment-investigation/

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Patrick Toomey (R-Pa.), the chairman and ranking GOP member on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said in a letter that they want to understand what steps Metro and the manufacturers of the cars and wheel parts took after problems with wheels shifting on their axles first were identified.

The committee is responsible for federal transit policy, and the senators said they were seeking the information “in furtherance of our oversight responsibilities.”

Metro officials didn’t immediately comment Friday on the letter.

The problems with the wheel assembly caused a train operating on the Blue Line to derail in October, leading safety regulators to order all 748 of the 7000-series cars out from service. Emergency inspections revealed the defect, which involves wheels shifting outward, had affected 20 axles and appeared to get progressively worse over time.