WASHINGTON 鈥� The Federal Transit Administration is raising questions about whether Metro rail ties are the proper size to keep tracks safely in place.
A federal inspection report released Wednesday says inspectors have 鈥渃onsistently noted” WMATA crossties on mainline track that are 7 1/2 inches. Metro鈥檚 own standards call for rail ties at switches to have at least an 8-inch face.
The inspection report noted that as of Sept. 24, Metro had not responded to federal inspectors鈥� questions about crossties that are a half inch narrower than internal standards. It is not clear how many of the smaller crossties exist in the system, or whether Metro staff understood how important at least some federal inspectors believed the issue to be.
鈥淒id engineering approve the procurement of crossties less than 8鈥� in width?鈥� the inspection report asks. If so, the inspectors say, Metro鈥檚 maintenance standards would need to be updated to reflect the change.
Narrower crossties do less to support the rails than the wider ones would. Metro鈥檚 latest procurement documents for rail ties seem to call for ties that could meet the written standards that the FTA is attempting to enforce.
In an email, Metro spokesman Richard Jordan said the photo provided in the report 鈥渁ppears to show a cross tie that was original to Metro’s construction (probably early 80s). Any original crossties are being replaced during SafeTrack with new ties that are in line with current specs.鈥�
Crosstie replacement is a major focus of the 24/7 track work, and is what Metro that the extended work zones help get three years of work done in one. Other work is not accelerated as much.
Crumbling crossties that date back decades have been at least partially blamed for a number of speed restrictions and, including the .
This inspection report is part of a series of documents released this week by the Federal Transit Administration that identify a number of issues that Metro needs to address.
