This past monday the worst subway crash in Washington Metro (WMATA) history took place killing 9 people. Today we have a couple of updates:

Superintendent Reassigned
The superintendent of the automatic control system that is supposed to prevent train crashes has been reassigned says the AP. Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said Friday that Matthew Matyuf has been temporarily assigned to a “special project.” Taubenkibel would not elaborate on what that project was, or how long the reassignment would last. Note that the WMATA is saying this is just a precaution and not a “negative reflection” on the superintendent.

ATO System Fails Test
The Washington Post is reporting, “A train control system that should have prevented Monday’s deadly Metro crash failed in a test conducted by federal investigators, officials said yesterday, suggesting that a crucial breakdown of technology sent one train slamming into another.”

ATO means Automatic Train Operation and basically means the train is operated by computer. Human train operators can still take over the controls at any moment – in the case of this crash, the train operator in the moving train hit the emergency brake but there wasn’t enough time to stop the train.

Tags: Transit News, Washington, WMATA