NTSB Opens Public Docket for WMATA Train Derailment in Virginia

2/28/2023

This photo shows the lead axle at the final derailment site in the tunnel.

​​​This photo shows the lead axle at the final derailment site in the tunnel. (Photo courtesy of WMATA​​)

Contains more than 1,400 pages of documents

​WASHINGTON (Feb. 28, 2023) — The National Transportation Safety Board opened the public docket Tuesday for its ongoing investigation into the 2021 derailment of a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority train in Arlington, Virginia. 

The docket for this investigation includes more than 1,400 pages of factual information, including reports on operations, mechanical, track and engineering, signal and train control, vehicle event recorders, materials lab and human performance. The docket also includes interview transcripts, photographs and other investigative materials.

The docket contains only factual information collected by NTSB investigators; it does not provide the final report or a probable cause. The NTSB will issue a final report at a later date that will include analysis, findings, recommendations, and probable cause determinations related to the derailment.

The accident occurred on Oct. 12, 2021, when a wheelset on railcar 7200 derailed while traveling southbound on Metro’s Blue line between the Rosslyn and Arlington Cemetery stations. Of the 187 passengers onboard, 1 passenger was transported to the hospital for treatment; no other injuries were reported.

​NTSB previously issued a Safety Alert calling on rail transit agencies and commuter railroads across the nation to assess their fleets for wheelsets that do not meet gage specifications and to take immediate action to correct the problem.

The public docket for this investigation is available at NTSB Docket - Docket Management System​.

Additional material may be added to the docket as it becomes available.


To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).


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