System, Driver Error Suspected in DC Train Crash

(NEWSER) - At least six are dead and 70 others injured after two subway trains collided during rush hour this evening in Washington DC, the AP reports. The incident is “developing into a mass casualty event,” a Metro spokesman told WJLA-TV. “We’re expecting a number of injuries.” A train on the Red Line, the system’s busiest, plowed into another train stopped at a station, Metro's general manager said at a press conference. More»

Electronic 'anomalies' found, markings indicated driver hit emergency brakes

(NEWSER) - Federal investigators believe an electronic problem may have caused Monday's deadly train crash in Washington DC, the Washington Post reports. Teesting has uncovered "anomalies" in a section of the Metro's automated control system, which senses train locations and sends speed commands, according to investigators. More»

(AP) - The subway train that plowed into another stopped train yesterday, killing nine people and injuring scores of others in Washington, was part of an aging fleet that federal officials had sought to phase out because of safety concerns, an investigator said today. The Metrorail transit system kept the old trains running despite warnings in 2006, Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board said. More»

Public anger erupts over second train crash since July

(NEWSER) - More than 260 people were injured today when two subway trains collided in central Shanghai, a government official says. Most of the wounds were bruises and bone fractures, and none were critical, Reuters reports, but one passenger says that “blood was everywhere." More»

Outlawed tax shelter scheme blamed for lack of modern safety features

(NEWSER) - Safer cars might have saved lives in Monday's DC train crash, but a tax-dodge deal made with a bank prevented the transit authority from replacing aging stock until 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports. The National Transportation Safety Board urged the authority years ago to either replace its older cars or add safety features, but the authority said it was unable to do so under a "tax advantage" agreement in which its rolling stock was sold to a bank and leased back. More»