D.C Metro Riders Self-Evacuate

[WhoozOn1st]

Passengers on a Washington Metro Green Line train took matters into their own hands when their train lost power on July 3. Rescue and work crews were called to assist a stalled train near Drexel Road Park, where between 200 to 300 passengers "self-evacuated" about 6 p.m.

Rebellion on the Green Line: Passengers flee stalled Metro train

"Joan Bisset, who was on the Greenbelt-bound train, said that for more than 15 minutes after the train stalled, passengers were left without a clue as to when help might arrive. The driver said she was not permitted to open the doors to let them out. So 150 hot, angry riders took matters into their own hands.

"Pushing open car doors, they clambered off the train and stepped onto the tracks several feet below.

"'I sat on my rear end and asked a man ahead of me to hold my hand,' recounted Bisset, who was on her way home when the train got stuck shortly after 6 p.m.

"The 'self-evacuation,' as Metro calls such acts, was not safe for the passengers, said spokesman Dan Stessel, who added that Metro strongly discourages such action."

I don't recall hearing of such an incident before, but surely this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

 

[AlanB]

I don't recall hearing of such an incident before, but surely this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

I'm not sure about the DC Metro, although it is likely, but it most certainly has happened here in NYC a couple of times.

One of the more famous ones was when an R train stalled out crossing a switch because apparently only one car was actually pulling power from the third rail and that car stopped on the switch in a spot where none of the shoes was still touching the third rail. So the motorman couldn't get the train moving again.

And it was a very hot day, much like NYC has seen these past couple of days and will again through the rest of the weekend. So passengers started self-evacing. That in turn forced the MTA to shut down power to all 4 tracks of the Queens Blvd line during the height of rush hour stranding thousands more in hot, dark tunnels & trains. It was total chaos for several hours with delays around half the system because of it.

I understand that it was hot on that train that first stalled. But 50 or so passengers who decided to take matters into their own hands, killed the evening commute home for thousands and put many, many more lives in jeopardy because of their actions.

 

[Ryan]

As is usually the case with WMATA, things aren't always what they seem...

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/2012/07/is-metro-lying-again.html

I was on the train about mid-way back, and had to learn via Twitter rather than from the conductor, that the rescue train had also lost power. Lost power - not had it shut off.
There was very, very little communication coming from the conductor at all during those hot 30 or so minutes.

The conductor eventually told us that we could leave "if we wanted to" because the third rail had no power, not the opposite way around, as WMATA is claiming in the article.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

Well, I didn't have to go to work on Tuesday, because my office didn't have power. Otherwise, I might have been on that train; I generally am on the Green Line about then. There have been conflicting reports, and we may never know conclusively what happened.

However, this is not the first time WMATA passengers have self-evacuated. And as Alan says, it always makes the situation worse. I remember a few months ago, there was a sick passenger (someone sick enough to require the train wait for the paramedics). The train behind was waiting in the tunnel for the train with the sick passenger to move. Other trains were single-tracking around.

Someone on the following train pulled an emergency door release and people started walking toward the next station. So WMATA had to shut down power to both tracks, and instead of having a delay of about 15 minutes, the line ended up being shut down for hours during the evening rush.

Whether the customers self-evacuated or evacuated on the instruction of the operator, it's lucky the only injury was a sprained ankle. WMATA should never evacuate customers onto the trackbed until rescue workers have arrived to help people down and ensure the power has been turned off, unless there is imminent threat to life from remaining aboard. It's a good three-foot drop to the ballast if the train is not on a curve (as I believe it was here, with the lower side of the car being on the third rail side).

It's unpleasant to wait aboard a train with no air conditioning. But it's unsafe to self evacuate.

It sounds to me like it might be operator error. Someone on my neighborhood listserv was aboard the train and reported that the operator told passengers that they could evacuate, but did not give them specific instructions or help them do so.

Anyway, it was a mess. I'm glad I wasn't commuting on Tuesday.

 

[Nathanael]

Heat is dangerous, and passengers aren't all stupid. If people are trapped in a train car with sealed windows and no A/C, they know that people will need to get out after 15 minutes or so to avoid heatstroke.

Every single rail system needs to *expect* that this will happen and plan for it; chastising the passengers for taking the only option open to them is NOT reasonable behavior.

The sensible thing to do would be to go back to making trains with windows which actually open, at least in emergencies. As long as rail systems keep buying trains with windows which can't be opened, they'll face "self-evacuations" in these circumstances.

 

[Nathanael]

It's unpleasant to wait aboard a train with no air conditioning. But it's unsafe to self evacuate.

Let me correct you. It's unsafe to self evacuate; but it's *more unsafe* to wait aboard a train with sealed windows and no air conditioning for long periods. One sprained ankle... versus potentially 100 cases of heatstroke.

The train operators who run trains with sealed windows in hot climates need to have an emergency plan which reliably provides fresh air within 15 minutes to people in stranded powerless trains. If they don't, they need to have a plan which evacuates the passengers within 15 minutes. If they don't have either -- which seems to be the case for most of the train operators -- self-evacuation is the safest option remaining, which is why you're going to continue seeing it happening.

This seems to be a major oversight on the part of most train operators. When they purchased trains with sealed windows, they never updated their emergency plans to make the necessary changes.

 

[Ryan]

It's unpleasant to wait aboard a train with no air conditioning. But it's unsafe to self evacuate.

Let me correct you. It's unsafe to self evacuate; but it's *more unsafe* to wait aboard a train with sealed windows and no air conditioning for long periods. One sprained ankle... versus potentially 100 cases of heatstroke.

Not really fair to compare a best case self evacuation to a worst case remaining onboard.

Potentially 100 cases of heatstroke are better than a few dead passengers from getting hit by a train or electrocuted.

Open the doors to get some airflow if you need it and stay on the train until you're told to do otherwise. Not a difficult concept.

 

[AlanB]

Open the doors to get some airflow if you need it and stay on the train until you're told to do otherwise. Not a difficult concept.

Exactly, open the doors but remain onboard the train. If power can be restored, those doors can be closed and the train can move on. Self-Evacing is extremely dangerous and in most cases simply not necessary. About the only circumstances where a self-evac might be necessary is if the train is on fire or there is someone with a gun shooting up the train. Otherwise, if needed, open the doors and stay onboard!

 

[George Harris]

Considering that the beginning of my working life in the transit and passenger carrying railroad business was 6 years on WMATA and that it truly is a beautiful system in concept and in many aspects fo its execution and very much a necessay part of the DC urban area, watching the going-ons at WMATA is like watching a close relative with great talents and skills go down in the disasterous results of addictions and bad decisions.

 

[Ryan]

I can only imagine that sort of pain. Hopefully someone will be able to get things turned around.

 

[Tracktwentynine]

Some new information has come to light. The root cause of the disruption was the storm (known as the "Derecho") that hit Washington on June 29.

Due to a commercial power outage (Pepco), Metro was unable to monitor the status of the third rail at their Control Center. That was being done from a remote terminal. At 5:49 on that Tuesday, the Pepco line feeding that section of track went out, and a northbound Green Line train stopped short of the College Park station.

A second problem was that the commercial power outage affected the nearby repeater station for system radios. So the operator could not reach OCC with her radio. She had to get off the train and walk to an emergency telephone down the tracks.

Metro's OCC could tell that the train was stopped, but they did not know why. They could not contact the operator, and sent a "rescue train" (a following train that was offloaded and would push the disabled train to College Park).

Unfortunately, the following train entered the section of track without third rail power and also became disabled.

The operator maintains that she did not instruct the passengers to evacuate, but several passengers dispute that.

Read more: http://washingtonexaminer.com/metro-outages-fueled-evacuation-mess/article/2502030