MetroRail issued two new violations

AUSTIN (KXAN) - In its most recent federal railroad inspection, Capital Metro received two additional recommended violations for its much-delayed MetroRail service.

This is in addition to three violations the agency is currently dealing with on a federal level.

In a June 22 inspection, a federal railroad inspector recommended two violations; one for a signal that gave a "false proceed" to a train, and a second for a crossing gate "not performing as intended."

Capital Metro Executive Vice President Doug Allen said the agency has since fixed both of the problems.

"Both of these have been addressed so that everything is safe," said Allen at a recent Capital Metro Board meeting.

Capital Metro officials blame the "false proceed" signal violation on a contractor inadvertently cutting a cable in the Robinson Ranch area.

CapMetro spokesman Adam Shaivitz said the train came up to a signal in that area and it was "dark." Shaivitz said the conductor immediately stopped, and called dispatch until the problem was fixed.

The other recommended violation took place in Leander at RR 2243 when a crossing gate stayed down longer than intended, said Allen.

The Federal Railroad Administration also noted 11 defects, nine for crossing malfunctions that were disabled or malfunctioning on the date of the inspection.

The other two came for an incorrect circuit plan and another for "crossing warning time."

The crossing malfunctions have nagged Capital Metro's testing schedule. Crossing gates have history of not coming down on time when trains approach crossings, or staying down too long blocking traffic for minutes on end.

As of Thursday, Capital Metro Spokesman Adam Shaivitz said only two crossings are malfunctioning along the 32-mile line from Leander to Downtown Austin.

In addition to the 2 recommended violations on the most recent June 22 inspection, the FRA noted 22 recommended violations in its March 11 and March 17 inspections. Those have since been reduced to three violations Capital Metro officials say they are trying to mitigate on a federal level.

Capital Metro still does not have a start date for the MetroRail line, though officials say they are making progress toward a safe start date.

Editors note: In the video, there is something said that needs clarification. There are 20 trips per day, 10 in the morning and 10 in the evening scheduled by MetroRail.