WASHINGTON - Metro's general manager says trains might continue operating manually for a year or more while the agency makes sure its automatic control system works properly.

"We will not put our trains back into automatic mode until we have a group of train signal experts from outside Metro come and evaluate our system and our procedures for using it," John Catoe said, adding the Red Line will operate at 35 mph until the cause of last week's crash is determined.

Nine people were killed and dozens injured last week when a moving train crashed into another train stopped on the tracks. Metro's train control system is supposed to prevent crashes from occurring, and federal investigators are trying to determine what went wrong.

Catoe said Tuesday that crews have inspected 65 percent of the Metro's 3,000 track signals to make sure there aren't similar problems elsewhere. So far, he says, none has been found.

As an added precaution, Catoe says a group of independent experts is being brought in to examine the transit system.

Catoe also said the transit system's plan to sandwich the older 1000-series Metrorail cars in between newer cars is 80-percent complete.

Catoe again defended the cars in his news conference, saying the "cause" of the crash was not the 1000-series cars.

"If those cars do not collide, then the issue of crash worthiness is not an issue," Catoe said.

But the NTSB has disagreed in the past, finding issues with the 1000-series cars' crashworthiness. The lead car of the striking train had its "survivable space" compromised by two-thirds, according to the NTSB. In 2006, after a similar crash, NTSB recommended Metro scrap the 1000-series cars.

Catoe said Metro does not have enough newer cars to eliminate the 1000-series cars without seriously compromising service.

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