NTSB investigating Washington subway derailment; 20 people injured, 1 seriously

Monday, January 8th 2007, 6:17 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The National Transportation Safety Board on Monday was investigating what caused a subway train to derail near downtown Washington, injuring at least 20 people, one seriously.

Witnesses said people started to panic Sunday afternoon when the six-car Metro train began shaking. Some passengers ran to the back of the train as it approached the underground Mount Vernon Square station.

``I was in a cab that actually shattered _ the front part of it _ those windows in between the two cars,'' rider Lauren Sprigg said.

Glass and metal debris was strewn through the tunnel after the derailment, and one person had a serious but not life-threatening injury, Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said. The other injuries were mostly ``bumps and bruises,'' though one of those with minor injuries was pregnant. About 150 people were on the train at the time.

After NTSB investigators examined the scene, Metro workers began removing the train. The Mount Vernon station opened on time Monday morning, but speed restrictions were in place through the area, Asato said.

``Right now the focus of the investigation is the rail and the car,'' said Kitty Higgins, a member of the NTSB. ``We will be investigating the track, both at the site of the derailment but also for several hundred feet on either side of the derailment to understand what condition the track was in.''

Some Metro riders said they were leery of taking the subway Monday morning. But others shrugged off the derailment, saying avoiding traffic on the roads outweighed the risk.

``I did mentally convince myself it's safer than driving,'' said John Seyfried, 48, a software engineer who commutes from the district to Alexandria, Va.

Metro officials said the train cars were part of the relatively new 5000 series, which has had some derailments at one or more rail yards. The number of derailments was not immediately available.

The derailment followed two accidents in 2006 in which three Metro track workers were struck and killed. Federal investigators at the time questioned whether the train operators were following safety procedures.

``This is an important system,'' Higgins said. ``It's our nation's capital. We want to make sure it's as safe as possible.''

Part of the six-car train had pulled into the station when the fifth car left the track and hit the tunnel wall, Asato said. All the train cars remained upright, but part of the fifth car was ripped apart, Higgins said.

The concrete tunnel wall also appeared to be damaged, though the extent of the damage wasn't clear.

The train operator was undergoing routine drug and alcohol tests, Asato said. The woman had been operating Metro trains since 2000. NTSB investigators planned to interview her Monday, Higgins said.

Investigators also planned to examine information from the train's data recorders to determine how fast the train was going and when the brakes were applied.