10 years since Red Line crash: What it was like and how it shaped Metro
By Max Smith | @amaxsmith
June 21, 2019 3:50 am

Ten years after the deadliest crash in Metro’s history, the system is still struggling to bounce back and riders continue to feel the impact every day.

At the height of the evening rush on Jun. 22, 2009, one Red Line train slammed into the back of another that was stopped outside the Fort Totten Station. Nine people were killed and at least 80 were hurt. A memorial is scheduled Saturday.

The most obvious changes for riders in the aftermath of the 2009 crash were the expansion of track work shutdowns and the end of smoother automatic train operations.

While Metro has promised a return to automatic operations, there is still no schedule for that to happen, and the agency did not respond to a request for additional information about future plans.

‘Startled:’ First responders remember seeing train in the air

D.C. Fire Battalion Chief Tony Carroll, a lieutenant at the time, was one of the first to arrive at the crash site once dispatchers figured out the crash happened not at the Takoma Station, but instead just under the bridge carrying New Hampshire Avenue Northeast over the Red Line tracks.

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