Rail workers suspended for 10-car train

Two Metro employees were suspended without pay for their role in creating a safety hazard by mistakenly putting a 10-car train into service on the Green Line last week.

Following an investigation by Metro, on Tuesday the train operator received a 13-day suspension without pay, and the platform supervisor was suspended for five days without pay, according to Metro spokesman Steve Taubenkibel.

A total of five Metrorail employees were removed from service on June 7 pending the investigation.

One of the employees, an interlocking operator was reassigned, Taubenkibel said Monday but would be allowed to pursue another job at Metrorail. Two other employees were cleared and allowed to return to the job, he said.

In August an operator delivered a train with two extra cars to the Greenbelt Metro station from the rail yard. That train serviced several stations before a passenger notified the operator that the train had two extra cars. The operator who delivered the train to the station tested positive for drugs and was placed on leave while in a drug rehabilitation program.

-- Ann Scott Tyson