MARTA makes costly upgrades after DC train crash

By Ariel Hart

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Washington, D.C. commuter train crash that killed nine people last year is spurring MARTA upgrades that may cost $50 million, MARTA officials said.

The National Transportation Safety Board this week issued its final ruling that the crash was caused by a track circuit failure, and also cited the Washington agency’s “lack of a safety culture.”

The NTSB also issued recommendations to MARTA and other agencies that have similar track circuitry. MARTA’s deputy general manager, Dwight Ferrell, said that as a result of the crash MARTA has already been following those recommendations for months, working with the manufacturing company Alstom Signaling Inc. to test its circuitry. In addition, as part of track upgrades over the next five years, MARTA will replace those circuitry components at an added cost of about $50 million, Ferrell said.