B4 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27 , 2021
gators it had discovered between
two and five defects annually dur-
ing routine inspections between
2017 and 2020. The number of
failures jumped to 18 this year, but
Mayer said Metro had not dis-
closed them to the safety commis-
sion, as required — including dur-
ing an audit of Metro’s rail car
inspections, maintenance and
best practices the commission re-
leased last month.
“This issue was not included in
materials provided by [Metro] as
part of our recent rail car audit, nor
disclosed during our many audit
interviews, nor is it mentioned at
any of the regular and frequent
discussions before the derailment
between our vehicles experts and
Metrorail staff,” Mayer told com-
missioners Tuesday.
By the afternoon of Sunday,
Oct. 17 — with about half of the
7000-series fleet inspected — Met-
ro’s review had uncovered several
car axles with wheel gauge defects
in which wheels had moved out-
ward, Mayer said. By evening, he
said, inspections were turning up
more.
METRO FROM B1 As the commission’s inspectors
reviewed a list of cars that Metro
said were being held from service
for failing inspection, they found
two that remained in service that
afternoon — both hooked to the
same train, Mayer said. Commis-
sion officials told Metro, and the
train was pulled out of service.
NTSB officials were concerned
by the fact that Metro had some-
how left the two cars in use, spokes-
woman Jennifer Gabris said.
“The investigative team was
made aware of the two cars that
were released by mistake, as well as
[Metro’s] efforts to capture those
cars as soon as they knew of the
issue,” she said. “We were con-
cerned, and this was taken into
consideration in conversations
with [the safety commission] re-
garding the status of the 7000-se-
ries fleet.”
The safety commission then or-
dered Metro to pull the entire se-
ries offline that evening. The cars
will remain out of service at least
through Sunday, forcing Metro to
operate basic levels of service with
lengthy waits between trains.
Metro spokesman Ian Jannetta
said the transit agency has
changed how it marks and secures
cars that are flagged during inspec-
tions.
“If a rail car is found with a
noncompliant wheel, in addition
to signage on the outside of the
equipment, we have added a tag
inside the operator compartment
on the throttle that requires a su-
pervisor to authorize any move-
ment of the car,” he said. “There is
also a new tracking mechanism for
all 7000-series rail cars found to be
out of alignment.”
Mayer said the NTSB is also
reviewing Metro’s evacuation pro-
cedures from the Oct. 12 derail-
ment. The transit agency has had
recurring troubles with evacua-
tions and communicating with
passengers onboard during emer-
gencies, which he said prompted
the review.
On Tuesday, safety board com-
missioners also expressed frustra-
tion over Metro’s other recurring
safety lapses after hearing a fresh
round of reports about emergen-
cies over several months in which
the transit agency didn’t cut power
to tracks despite knowing people
were on or near them.
“Washington Metro’s beenaround a long time and had over 40
years of operating trains and es-
sentially responding to emergen-
cies and evacuating passengers,”
said c ommissioner Robert Lauby,
formerly the Federal Railroad Ad-
ministration’s chief safety officer.
“And yet again, in this particular
accident investigation, we’re find-
ing a failure to use incident com-
mand system, failure to communi-
cate problems just in making plans
to recover the trains in the emer-
gency.”
Commission Chairman Christo-
pher Hart, a former chairman of
the NTSB, asked staff to determine
whether other transit agencies
have as many repeated procedural
failures or violations as Metro to
better understand if the agency is
an “outlier” on safety.
“This report is so full of failures
to comply, it just leaves me wonder-
ing are we seeing failures to com-
ply because they don’t know the
rules? Because they don’t like the
rules?” Hart said. “But it’s just very
troubling to see so many failures to
comply with rules that are there for
the safety of everybody involved.”
Jannetta said Metro created a
new desk in the rail operationscontrol center that, starting in Jan-
uary, will have control over track
power to ensure they are not ener-
gized when workers or others are
present. The transit agency is also
rewriting its rules and safety man-
ual with more rigid standards, Jan-
netta said.
An agency-wide review of stan-
dards and procedures, as well as
how well employees know them,
will be completed by Nov. 5, he
said.
The removal of more than half of
Metro’s rail cars from service — as
well as the suspension and gradual
return of the agency’s 6000-series
cars after two train separations last
year — has forced the agency to
reduce service and rely on cars that
are more than 30 years old.
Mayer has said the widening of
wheelsets is a progressive problem
that surfaces after a period of time
or miles. His agency has allowed
Metro to come up with a plan to
bring the 7000 series back into
service without knowing a cause
for the defect, possibly through
frequent inspections of wheels and
axles.
The transit agency expects to
provide its proposal to the safetycommission Wednesday, Jannetta
said. He said Metro’s inspection of
the fleet has turned up 20 axles out
of alignment. He did not say if the
defect had caused the wheels to
move.
Inspections by the NTSB of all
but 200 of the cars more than a
week ago had also found 21 widen-
ing wheelsets.
Metrorail operated on Monday
using 33 trains that serviced about
151,000 passenger trips. The tran-
sit agency is pulling more 2000-
and 3000- series trains from stor-
age to increase its available stock,
Jannetta said.
Trains are operating every 15 to
20 minutes on the Red Line and
every 30 to 40 minutes on other
lines. Silver Line trains are operat-
ing between the Wiehle-Reston
Ea st and Federal Center SW sta-
tions.
Metro has said reduced service
levels will be in place at least until
Sunday, which would be two weeks
after the 7000-series cars were
pulled out of Metro’s roughly
1,200-car fleet. The transit agency
hasn’t provided a timetable for
when normal service might return.
[email protected]Hearing raises questions about Metro’s safety procedures
BY RACHEL CHASONFormer Prince George’s state’s at-
torney Glenn Ivey (D) and state Del.
Jazz Lewis (D-Prince George’s) an-
nounced Tuesday that they are run-
ning to succeed R ep. Anthony G.
Brown (D-Md.), a day after Brown
said he would vacate the congres-
sional seat to run for Maryland at-
torney general.
Ivey’s and Lewis’s announce-
ments could be the beginning of a
surge of candidates into the race for
Maryland’s 4th Congressional Dis-
trict, which Brown has represented
since 2017. The deep-blue district in-
cludes much of Prince George’s
County and parts of Anne Arundel
County.
Ivey led the Prince George’s
state’s attorney’s of fice from 2002
until 2010. He spent years as a con-
gressional staffer and last year
started his own law firm. He came
in second to Brown in the bitter,
six-way 2016 Democratic primary
for the 4th Di strict seat v acated byDonna F. Edwards (D) when she
ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Sen-
ate.
Edwards is now among those be-
ing discussed as a possible c ontend-
er for her former seat. O ther possible
candidates i nclude Prince George’s
County Council member Derrick
Leon Davis (D-District 6) and state
Sen. Melony Griffith (D-Prince
George’s).
Ivey, who is married to Prince
George’s County Council member
Jolene Ivey (D-District 5), has longbeen active in local politics, includ-
ing recently serving as the chair of
the committee examining Prince
George’s County police internal
policies as part of the reform work
group established by County Exec-
utive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D).
“Our country stands at a cross-
roads,” Ivey said in a news release
announcing his candidacy. “At a t ime
when many American families
struggle to afford housing or health-
care, and our voting rights are under
attack, I am committed to using mylife’s experience to bring justice and
common sense to Congress.”
Lewis is a senior adviser to U.S.
House Majority L eader S teny H.
Hoyer (D-Md.) and has served since
2017 in the House of Delegates,
where he is the chairman of the
House Democratic Caucus. In office,
he has pushed legislation related to
police accountability, sentencing
overhauls and increasing access to
healthful foods.
“I was born and raised in this
community, and I’ve seen too manyinequities pass from generation to
generation. I am running with a
fierce urgency of now to ensure that
we don’t pass the many challenges
that we face today onto the next
generation,” Lewis said in a state-
ment.
Brown said Monday that it was
too early to say whom he would sup-
port but that he is confident a D emo-
crat will retain the seat and that
voters will have a “great choice”
among those who run.
[email protected]MARYLAND
E x-state’s attorney, d elegate enter Democratic race for Brown’s H ouse seat
federal programs bribery and one
count of filing a false tax return.
The former coach, according to
prosecutors, also failed to report a
significant portion of the millions
he received on federal income tax-
es.
Tracy Miner, Ernst’s attorney,
did not immediately respond to a
request for comment Tuesday.In a p lea agreement released last
month, prosecutors recommended
Ernst serve at least one but no more
than four years in prison, with two
years of supervised release. Ernst
also agreed to forfeit more than
$3.4 million.
Ernst was named by prosecutors
in 2019 as one of the individuals
involved in the wide-reaching admissions scandal —
along with former coaches from
Yale and Stanford and a handful of
famous parents, including actress-
es Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huff-
man. About four dozen people in all
have pleaded guilty.
Ernst’s sentencing is scheduled
for March 2, prosecutors said.
[email protected]BY LAUREN LUMPKINFormer Georgetown University
tennis coach Gordon Ernst, ac-
cused of accepting and soliciting
bribes as part of the Varsity Blues
college-admissions scandal, plead-
ed guilty in Boston federal court
Monday.
Ernst, 54, was accused of taking
more than $2.7 million in bribes for
spots on Georgetown’s tennis
teams between 2012 and 2018, part
of a sweeping scheme orchestrated
by California-based consultant
William “Rick” Singer, court docu-
ments show. Singer offered wealthy
families what he called a “side
door” into elite colleges, including
favors in admissions offices andspecial test-taking arrangements
that provided a cover for cheating.
Prosecutors said Ernst, in ex-
change for bribes from Singer and
applicants’ families, named at least
12 Georgetown applicants as tennis
recruits, including some who did
not play the sport competitively.
Ernst pleaded guilty Monday to
charges including three counts ofTHE DISTRICT
Ex-Georgetown tennis coach pleads guilty in college admissions scandal
day night voiced strong enthusi-
asm for Biden and McAuliffe. In
interviews, some brushed aside
the president’s poll numbers and
blamed his dearth of legislative
accomplishments on Republican
resistance.
Divya Kapoor, a 22-year-old
tech analyst who just moved to
Arlington’s Pentagon City neigh-
borhood from Maryland, said sheunfulfilled. Given the cheery com-
pliments the two gave each other,
though, it would have been diffi-
cult to tell.
Biden, who introduced himself
as Jill Biden’s husband, men-
tioned that he had come to Arling-
ton only because the first lady
BIDEN FROM B1 teaches at Northern Virginia
Community College, just a few
miles away.
“Terry’s going to be her boss,”
he said, eliciting light laughter
from the crowd. He then went on
to praise McAuliffe’s efforts to
improve rail transportation in
Virginia, expand prekindergarten
and secure high-speed broadband
across the state.
Much like when he cam-
paigned for McAuliffe in July,
Biden sought aggressively to link
Youngkin to former president
Donald Trump, mentioning
Trump’s false claims that the 2020
election was stolen and tying
Youngkin to that rhetoric, as well
as the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S.Capitol.
“Extremism can come in many
forms. It can come in the rage of a
mob driven to assault the Capitol.
It can come in a smile and a fleece
vest,” he said, referring to Young-
kin’s red outfit on the campaign
trail. “Either way, the ‘big lie’ is
still the ‘big lie.’ ”
As Youngkin embarks on a fi-
nal, 50-stop tour across the state,
the former private equity execu-
tive has kept Trump at arm’s
length in his appeal for moderate
and independent suburban vot-
ers.
Trump has offered several en-
dorsements of the Republican
candidate, at one point calling
into a rally on his behalf earlier
this month. But Youngkin has on
several occasions evaded saying
whether he wants the former
president’s support.
Former vice president Mike
Pence also is making an appear-
ance in Virginia. He is set to speak
in Loudoun County on Thursday
on the topic of “educational free-
dom.”
While the address is not being
billed as a campaign event, Lou-
doun is the main venue where
Youngkin and other Republicans
have rallied against critical race
theory, an academic concept that
is not included in Virginia public
school curriculums.
Next week’s election also in-
cludes competitive races for lieu-
tenant governor, attorney general
and every seat in the 100-member
House of Delegates, where Demo-
crats are defending a 55-to-45 ma-
jority.
The party is hoping to preserve
the legislative advantage that has
enabled it to push Virginia left-
ward on matters from marijuana
to the death penalty, much of it
pow ered by anti-Trump senti-
ment.
Trump’s absence from the bal-
lot will test whether Democrats
can maintain their hold on power
in Richmond without a similar
animating force — and as their
party’s leader faces fallen approv-
al numbers.
But even amid questions about
Biden’s popularity, those hud-
dlin g under the floodlights Tues-was still researching the candi-
dates in her new state. But having
voted for Biden last year, she
could not ignore his support for
McAuliffe.
“It must be significant if Biden
is willing to put his weight behind
him,” she said. “On a policy level
and on an ideas level, the presi-
dent of the United States putting
his support behind your platform
is definitely a good sign.”
Nargiza Gikashvili, a painter
and art dealer who lives in Arling-
ton, said she came to the rally to
see Biden, describing him as
“nice” and “someone I could be
friends with.”
When it comes to McAuliffe,
however, “I don’t know much
about him,” said Gikashvili, 47.
“But if our president supports
him, then I support [him].”
And for Brian Stillwaugh, 42, a
stay-at-home dad and Alexandria
resident, Trump was still enough
of a motivating factor to cast his
entire ballot in favor of the Demo-
cratic ticket.
“I’ve always considered myself
to be a moderate, but I haven’t
liked the direction the Republican
Party has been headed in,” he said,
wearing an “I Voted” sticker from
his early-voting trip to the polls
earlier that afternoon.
[email protected]
[email protected]Biden calls on Virginia voters to show up against Youngkin — and Trump
DEMETRIUS FREEMAN/THE WASHINGTON POST
President Biden speaks at a rally on Tuesday in Arlington for
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe, right.“You all know the
stakes. You don’t have
to wonder what kind
of governor Terry will
be, because you know
what a great governor
he was.”
President Biden, in remarks
at a campaign event Tuesday in
Virginia for Democratic gubernatorial
nominee Terry McAuliffeBATH & SHOWER RENOVATIONS
FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, IN AS LITTLE AS ONE DAY.VIRGINIA703-643-9251MARYLAND240-296-2869
Not Available in DCInstallations in as little as one day. Sold, fu rnis hed and installed by an independent Luxury Bath Technologies dealer. Not valid with any other
offer. Luxury bath dealers are neither brokers or lenders. Different lending institutions have different programs and rates. Lifetime Warranty
applies to manufacturing defects. Discount available during initial consultation. Offer available for a limited time as determined by the dealer. Ask
your representative for details. Other restrictions may apply. Personal Hygiene Systems, Aging in Place, Mobility and Accessibility. MD136343,
VA2705170348, WV058033.We work with the VA on behalf of Veterans.
MADE IN THE USA.
REMODELINGExclusive to Luxury Bath Technologies
Tub & Shower SystemsReduces Risk of Cross-
Contamination
Stays Cleaner Longer
Fights the Growth of Mold
& Mildew
Extends P roduct Life— WE CAN OFFER YOU —$
800 OFF+ NO PAYMENTS FOR 12 MONTHSValid with purchase of bath or shower replacement. Offer valid until 11/1/2021. Call for information.BATHROOM BELONG IN A HAUNTED HOUSE?