WASHINGTON — At least four people were reported killed and 70 injured in an early-evening collision and derailment on the Washington metropolitan rail network on Monday, Washington officials said. City officials said one of the dead was a train operator, according to The Associated Press.
The accident, in which two trains collided near the border of the District of Columbia and Maryland on the Metrorail system’s Red Line, may have injured several dozen people, early reports from the scene indicated. The Red Line is the busiest of the five lines that transport many thousands of riders a day between Washington and Virginia and Maryland.
About two hours after the crash, Dennis Rubin, a Washington fire official, confirmed that four people had died, two had “life-threatening” injuries, 12 had moderate injuries and 50 were “pretty much the walking wounded.”
George Harris Member # 2077
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As of this morning, the death toll is 7.
For those not familiar with the area:
In this location the WMATA tracks are between the CSX (ex B&O) tracks. This is the CSX line west used by quite a few commuter trains and the Capitol Limited. The WMATA line is the one to Shady Grove. This was Phase 2A of the construction of the system. The set up of the tracks is thus:
There is a fence with intrusion detection between the B&O mains and the WMATA mains.
George Harris Member # 2077
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did not realize this had been so long in the past. Track spacing like this would not be built, and probably could not be built with the current day safety standards. In 1970 is was OK. There was a B&O derailment that left some of the derailed equipment on the WMATA tracks. I do not remember when, but it was within the shutdown hours. (For those who are not familiar, B&O is now part of CSX.
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