A top federal transportation safety official is harshly criticizing Washington's regional transit agency, saying a “poor safety culture” led to an October 2021 derailment that caused hundreds of new Metro railcars to be pulled from service. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said Thursday that a final NTSB report on the incident concluded that WMATA technicians had been aware for years of a safety issue that caused the wheels on the new 7000-series Metro cars to expand wider than the tracks. However that information was poorly communicated within the organization and not acted upon with the proper urgency.
