D.C. train test turns up a signal-system problem

WASHINGTON - The signaling system for the Washington-area transit system failed to detect a test train stopped in the same place as one that was struck during a deadly crash Monday, federal investigators said yesterday.

The National Transportation Safety Board was testing the control system that provides critical information to passing trains such as when to stop or slow down.

Test results released by the board indicate that the oncoming train in Monday's crash - which killed nine people, including the operator of the oncoming train - might not have received information that a train was stopped on the tracks ahead of it.

An NTSB news release did not say whether investigators think the problems were occurring before the crash.

The side of the track damaged in the crash was closed as the investigation continues. Trains were running along just one track, as Metro yesterday reopened the two stations that had been closed since the crash, but only for rush hour.

The safety board said that the operator of the struck train, who was interviewed yesterday, told investigators that his train was running in manual mode at the time of the crash. He said he was waiting for another train to clear when he felt a hard push to his train from behind.

Investigators say they are still examining the crash site to understand how the train control system functioned Monday. Yesterday, they found streak marks on the tracks for about 125 feet leading up to the crash site, indicating "heavy braking."

On Wednesday, tests by the NTSB had raised the possibility that trains passing through a 740-foot stretch where the collision occurred could have had trouble receiving signals to stop or slow down. Officials had stopped short of saying whether the circuit - a section beneath the track that includes a signaling system - was broken, refusing to elaborate on the "anomalies" that testers found. Five other stretches of track in the area of the crash near the Maryland state line showed no problems.

Metro said it was inspecting every stretch of its tracks to make sure there were not signaling problems elsewhere. General Manager John Catoe said all trains would run manually until crews inspect all 3,000 circuits.

Catoe also said the agency would start rearranging its trains to put the oldest and structurally weakest rail cars in the middle, instead of at the ends, where they are more vulnerable.

Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said later that it would not be possible to make that change in every case, but that the agency would do it where it could.