Silver Line construction by Fairfax County licensed under Creative Commons.

Metro might not be able to open its newest rail line extension on time, according to the latest audit from the Metrorail oversight body. The new section of the Silver Line, which runs from Reston out to Dulles Airport and Ashburn, could be delayed for an undetermined period of time until Metro hires - and is able to retain - enough rail controllers to staff the system.

This is the third part of a series diving into issues at the Metrorail Rail Operations Control Facility (ROCC) identified by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. The introduction can be found here.

One of several long-running issues at the ROCC is staffing. As the WMSC puts it, “The culture in the ROCC, high turnover, and a broken recruitment approach have led to a situation where, without a course correction, WMATA will continue to struggle to meet the minimum staffing levels in the ROCC required for the safe operation of the rail system.“

Sign-off from the WMSC that it’s safe to open Phase II of the Silver Line is required before Metro can run trains with passengers on it. “Metrorail staffing and training (not just in the ROCC) is a key focus of our Pre-Revenue Service Review for Silver Line Phase 2,” according to WMSC spokesperson Max Smith.

“As the WMSC has previously communicated to WMATA,” the new WMSC audit reads, “if ROCC staffing continues to fall short, WMATA and/or the WMSC may be forced to conclude that it would be unsafe to fully test and open the Silver Line extension to Loudoun County.”

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), who’s in charge of building the new line, estimates they’ll be able to turn it over to Metro for acceptance in December or January. Metro needs at least three months before they can then open the line - if they accept it from MWAA - and it can only open if they get the sign-off needed from the WMSC.

Metro told the WMSC in July, 2020 that they have 30 certified controllers, just one higher than the 29 controllers the agency had in 2015. Fifty certified controllers are needed to run the existing six rail lines, plus the additional extension out to Dulles Airport.

Metro had planned to create a fourth ROCC operations desk back in 2017 to help split the workload better among rail controllers, but hasn’t had enough staff to do so properly. The split is one of a number of moving parts needed before the line extension can be opened.

High staff turnover at the ROCC has kept Metro from being able to achieve the staffing they need for expansion. As of July 31, 2020, 18 controllers who worked in the ROCC since September 2017 had left for other jobs inside Metro or elsewhere.

“Metrorail does not currently meet its required staffing levels and is not on track to do so,” the WMSC says.

In response to a question, Smith told GGWash that “Metrorail provided a response to us last week that outlines some of the current hiring efforts and planning assumptions, and we continue to seek additional information on this front.”

The WMSC says Metro needs to fix its hiring retention issues and suggests conducting and documenting exit interviews, among other actions, so department management can improve the work environment.

Budget and concrete could also delay the Silver Line’s opening

Metro’s budget crisis is leading the agency towards delaying the opening of the Silver Line expansion until July, regardless of the WMSC audit. Metro says they’ll be able to save $53.8 million by doing so.

A second major issue that’s still unresolved is that of concrete paneling along the new Silver Line extension. As we reported, cracks found in some of around 1,700 panels are being analyzed by Metro’s Office of Inspector General whose report was posted online Thursday, September 10.

The OIG report providing more information about the concrete issue is being “finalized,” according to Metro Board member Matt Letourneau.

Delaying the extension’s opening impacts other agencies as well. Fairfax Connector has developed plans to reorganize bus service in the area of Herndon and Reston to take advantage of the new rail stations. Those plans to reorganize and increase bus service will likely be pushed out if the Metro stations don’t open when expected.

Controllers are working too much and have too many responsibilities

Driven in part by the limited number of certified controllers available, an alarming number are working a significant number of hours, some in violation of Metro’s fatigue policy.

The WMSC’s review of work schedules from January to July showed “multiple controllers working more than 10 or 20 consecutive days, including stints of 26, 28 and 29 consecutive days for individual controllers.”

Metro’s fatigue policy says workers cannot work more than six consecutive days without a 24-hour period off, but if a controller works seven consecutive days then they must take 48 hours off.

A graphic showing the number of days in a row that several rail controllers worked. Image from WMSC.

One particular employee worked seven or more consecutive days during eight stretches between January and July. During two of those stretches, the employee worked 20 and 28 days straight.

Metro policies also cap controller shifts at 12 hours, but the WMSC says that rule hasn’t always been followed.

Fatigue is a fairly obvious safety concern, and the WMSC says Metro needs to address it. Fatigue “creates impairment and increases the risk of an accident,” and with so much of Metro’s train operations and control being done manually rather than automated, that concern is heightened.

In a response to the WMSC, Metro says it’s following its fatigue policies as best it can, but has been rebuffed. “WMATA requested that control center staff agree to a revised schedule of 12-hour shifts which…would have created increased flexibility in scheduling…permit[ing] increased rest periods and limit[ing] consecutive days worked. Unfortunately, this proposal was rejected.”

Metro also says an arbitration decision means it can’t enforce limits on how many days in a row that employees work.

With the WMSC report now out, Metro has 45 days to propose their plans for how to ensure that fatigue policies are being followed, provide more transparency during recruitment and training to retain more controllers, and get more information why controllers leave so issues raised can be resolved.

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Tagged: transit

Stephen Repetski is a Virginia native and has lived in the Fairfax area for over 20 years. He has a BS in Applied Networking and Systems Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology and works in Information Technology. Learning about, discussing, and analyzing transit (especially planes and trains) is a hobby he enjoys.