Metro’s 6000-series trains are on their way back

If you saw a 6000-series train on the Red Line last week, don’t be alarmed - it wasn’t just you. A number of riders and railfans saw similar Thursday afternoon into Friday. But the cars are not all back in service - at least not just yet.

Metro removed all 6000-series trains from service nearly a year ago after a Red Line train came apart, the second occurrence in just two months. Metro’s Chief Safety Officer, Theresa Impastato, said the cars would remain out of service “until investigators fully understand the underlying causes and contributing factors involved.”

The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission began its own investigation and determined that Metro hadn’t performed the safety certification necessary for overhauling the couplers – the equipment that joins individual railcars together – which contributed to improper tools and techniques being used and the trains pulling apart. The WMSC found even that a process Metro had incorrectly created as a way to certify work being performed wasn’t being followed.

WMATA told the WMSC it would inspect all 6000 Series couplers over the following days, and later said those inspections identified 9 cars with incorrect bolts or other hardware – similar to the 2018 McLean Pull apart – and 4 cars with at least one grand nut thread showing.

— Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (@MetrorailSafety) May 18, 2021

Metro spokesperson Ian Janetta said that the train seen last week was the first to reenter service “following approval from the WMSC.” More are expected to come back online as they’re recertified, and the agency hopes to have all cars back by the end of the year.

A second set of eight 6000-series cars is expected to return to service this week.

The Red Line 6000-series train running last week was part of testing being performed by Metrorail, according to WMSC spokesperson Max Smith. “This portion of the coupler testing is scheduled to involve two trains whose railcars have each also undergone a series of other work and tests,” he noted.

Two trains were being used for testing, according to Smith. One, according to information shared by a Metro source, consists of four 6000-series railcars sandwiched with two 3000-series railcars on either side.

The other, also an eight-car train, was all 6000-series cars and ended up carrying passengers on the Red Line on Thursday and Friday. The train happened to include railcar 6150, one of the two that unintentionally uncoupled from another car outside Glenmont last November.

The 6000-series train in service carrying passengers was engaged in testing, said Smith, “to allow for examination of a small sample in operations, following the other tests that had been previously conducted on these specific cars.”

Metro’s Janetta said the agency’s inspection of the cars prior to return to service “includes a complete teardown of the couplers and an evaluation in coordination with the original equipment manufacturer to assure that all couplers are free from defects.”

The WMSC required Metro to respond to several Corrective Action Plans regarding the 6000-series trains and its general maintenance of railcars. One CAP from the audit notes that some 6000-series cars which underwent rehabilitation were put back into service without approval of Metro’s Safety department.

Another CAP notes that the process Metro was failing to follow when certifying trains to return to service wasn’t the right process. Metro has a specific Safety and Security Certification Program process that it is required to follow.

Janetta noted while Metro is awaiting final approval from the WMSC on its proposed answers to the CAPs, the agency is “implementing the actions.” As of last week, the WMSC said that “WMATA is still developing corrective action plan proposals required under the Railcar Audit.”