WASHINGTON - Metro Board Chairman Jim Graham says the transit agency's board of directors might simply have to "mothball" all of the system's 1000-series rail cars, which have been a focus of the investigation into Monday's crash that killed nine people and injured 80.

"It's a very fair question. We're looking at it right now, the issue of whether we should simply mothball these cars," Graham said.

Metro General Manager John Catoe on Thursday said the transit system would only use the 1000-series cars in the middle of trains, with newer, sturdier cars used for the first and last cars.

Catoe said he was responding to passenger perceptions about the cars, which he maintains are safe. The NTSB, however, has criticized Metro for failing to revamp or replace its 1000-series rail cars after previous warnings by the agency. The striking train, which sustained most of the damage, was made up of those cars dating to the 1970s. The cars are not as good at withstanding crashes as later models.

Metro told the NTSB in 2006 that it couldn't afford to replace the old cars because of an elaborate financing arrangement in which it sold the rail cars to banks and then leased them back at a discount. Metro is making lease payments until 2014.

Graham says simply getting rid of the 300 old cars -- which make up more than one-quarter of its fleet -- would severely impact service on the Metrorail.

"The question comes down to this: Are we willing to move in the interim to four-car trains -- which is what this will mean, which means our capacity will go down and trains will be further apart?" Graham asked. "Are we willing to do that in order to take these cars out of service?"

Graham says he doesn't yet have an answer.

Graham and Metro spokespeople were also unable to explain another fact released by the NTSB Thursday: why the operator of the stopped train was operating in manual mode at the time of the crash, despite a standing order to run in automatic mode.

The operator stopped his train short of the Fort Totten station, where another train was servicing the platform.

The section of track where the train stopped had an apparent sensor glitch, preventing the train control system from detecting the presence of the parked train, the NTSB said Thursday.

It appears the computer literally drove the striking car into the back of the train.

"There should be all manner of fail-safe systems in place," said Graham. "Something went very wrong here."

ABC 7 News has learned the operator of the stopped train is likely to be disciplined for running in manual.

One question not yet answered by the NTSB is if the deceased driver of the striking train, Jeanice McMillan, 42, had enough of a sight line to stop her train if she reacted quickly enough.

ABC 7's Brad Bell rode the tracks Friday to gain some perspective. He was able to spot the location where the train was parked from a couple hundred yards away.

Brad said he found it "stunning" how little time McMillan would have had to recognize there was a stopped train on the tracks and react to it. NTSB investigators say there are indications McMillan hit the emergency brakes 125 feet before the collision. Brad estimated that was about the exact amount of time she would have had. 

Metro and the NTSB have not yet said how fast the train was traveling at the point of impact, but the maximum speed along that section of track was 59 mph, and the train, traveling in automatic mode, had no reason to slow down because the signalling system did not detect the stopped train.

 Email To Friend