DC Metro to return to automatic train operations

The Washington, D.C., Metrorail subway system is planning to operate trains automatically for the first time since a deadly 2009 crash on its Red Line. The crash was blamed on problems with the technology. 

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) said Thursday that it would use the automated train technology on the Red Line for the first time since the June 2009 crash, which spurred widespread changes to the capital area transit agency. 

“The return of automatic train operation on the Red Line is a significant safety milestone for Metro,” Metro Deputy General Manager Rob Troup said in a statement. “I want to thank our riders for their forbearance through years of work, often on weekends, to allow us the track access necessary to perform essential signal upgrades.”

Metro officials said the automated train technology would be on eight-car trains on its Red Line. The transit system’s other lines are not expected to be able to upgraded to handle the automated trains until 2017. 

Lawmakers have pushed for transit and long-distance railroad companies to implement the automated train control since a series of crashes that involved trains collided with each other began in 2008. 

D.C. Metro officials were forced to put the system on hold, when investigators found that a computer error caused two trains to collide on the Red Line in 2009, killing nine people.