Now,WSJ is reporting:
Federal transportation investigators warned Washington transit authorities in 2006 to upgrade or eliminate their oldest train cars, including one that slammed into another train Monday, killing seven people, out of concern they could not withstand the force of a crash...The moving train was an older, 1000 series car... and...Garrett Dorsey, 44 years old, a passenger on the stationary train, said it had been sitting for two to three minutes after an announcement of unspecified electrical problems. Suddenly, there was a "big bang," said Mr. Dorsey, a plumber who works at Walter Reed Medical Center. "It was like a bomb going off."
Was the Metro money frozen because of the AIG crisis responsible for part of the delay in replacing older train cars? Did lowered maintenance standards because of Metro money frozen result in the electrical malfunctions in the stopped train?
I question the relevance of holding AIG to blame when the crisis with the insurer di not come about until 2008, 2 years after the warnings to address their short comings, long befor the AIG crunch affected the authorities money flow....if I understand the references in the articles correctly.
ReplyDeleteI question the relevance of holding AIG to blame when the crisis with the insurer di not come about until 2008, 2 years after the warnings to address their short comings, long befor the AIG crunch affected the authorities money flow....if I understand the references in the articles correctly.
ReplyDeleteThis post was made before the news about the two year old trains came out.
ReplyDeleteIt does not appear taht the age of the trains caused the crashed. The severity yes, but not the crash itself.(The older trains crumple up more on impact). It appears to be a maintenance problem---and I highlighted this back in March, lnog before the crash.
It is now clear that there were a lot budgetary problems, which resulted in poor maintenance---the AIG connection being one of them.
BTW No one is blaming AIG. If you read my March post the banks seem to have been holding back money that belonged to Metro. But it is a ramification of the financial crisis and AIG involvement in it.