Federal Oversight of Metro in Question

Over the summer, there was a collision on the Red Line between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations, when two six-car trains crashed into each other, killing nine people, and injuring 90 others. There have also been a number of incidents where employees have been killed while on the job. For these reasons, numerous people, including the Obama administration, are now pushing for tougher federal safety standards to be adopted for transit systems. More than 700,000 trips are taken every day on the subway system, yet there is no federal law to oversee the safety standards.

These safety rules that Federal officials are seeking to enforce would be similar to the power already in place to oversee the airlines and Amtrak. Currently, they are unable to implement these safety standards because they are constrained by the law.