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Report: MTA Knew Baltimore Metro Violated Standards In 2016

BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) -- A Maryland Transit Administration report says the agency knew Baltimore Metro's subway rails didn't meet safety standards in 2016, more than a year before it declared an emergency shutdown.

The Baltimore Sun cites a 2018 MTA report that says 17 of the Metro's turns were found in a November 2016 geometric evaluation to be "deteriorated to the point where no train movement is allowed." The shutdown, declared last week, is expected to last until March 11.

"People losing their jobs behind not being able to be to work on time," metro rider Lex Payne said. "I really feel like they don't care about the individuals in the city. With the replacement of the shuttles--for the train--none of them are on time."

MTA Administrator Kevin Quinn confirmed MTA was aware of safety violations and continued to run trains. He says riders were never in danger.

"We do inspections of our track two to three times a week, the last inspection on a couple of these elevated sections were just a few weeks prior," Quinn said.

"I feel like whoever making decisions is not a person who rides the bus," Tally Payne said. "They've known about the problems--we know about them because we just riding the train but we didn't know how serious the problems were."

MTA and Federal Transit Administration standards allow a 26 degree maximum for rails' gauge face angle, a measurement of how much trains have worn the rail. All MTA lines measured last month exceeded 26 degrees.

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(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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