Devin Rouse, former #WMATA board member, has been appointed to serve a term on the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission #WMSC by the Virginia Governor.

https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2023/august/name-1013210-en.html

The #WMSC has published inspection reports including those covering #WMATA Automatic Train Operation testing. This report, from April, details some of the technical issues that they saw, including: station overruns, doors not opening, stopping short at stations.

The commission has since said that Metro's organization and procedures are not ready for a return to ATO.

The #WMSC says that two #WMATA trains have been moved without signaling safety system enabled, against protocol, and the agency didn't investigate.

ATP keeps Metrorail trains safely spaced apart.

The #WMSC statement:

#WMATA claims the #WMSC has agreed to let it move to Phase 3 of its 7000-series Return To Service plan. Phase 2 > 3 means train wheels get inspected every 7 days, not every 4, which should mean more railcars will make their way into service.