Metro (WMATA) worker killed near Vienna

Unfortunate news especially when so much has been going wrong for WMATA this summer.

A veteran Metro employee was struck and killed by a piece of track equipment near the Vienna station on the Orange Line Sunday night, Metro officials said.

The incident occurred about 9:50 p.m. during scheduled track maintenance work near the station in Fairfax County.

I’m not sure that people realize the danger that transit workers face working any rail system.

The track repairman, a Metro employee for about 25 years, was working with a crew replacing cross ties when he was hit by a ballast regulator, a piece of equipment that rides on the rails, Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said early Monday. The equipment deposits and spreads the stone or gravel known as ballast upon which the cross ties and rails rest, particularly in outdoor parts of the system. The ballast provides drainage and stability.

It’s a dangerous job working on the tracks. I only hope that they are provided with every means possible to protect themselves. I don’t know what the case was with this horrific accident though. It appears that WMATA is going to have to investigate.