WMATA 4000-series rail cars' door components miss safety mark

Certain door components on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (WMATA) 4000-series rail cars will require safety adjustments, agency officials announced yesterday.

The transit system took all 100 of those cars offline late last week to inspect door operations and components.

Although the agency's maintenance and engineering staff didn't find any "systemic or emergent" safety issues with the doors, they determined that some components were "at a low level of acceptable tolerance in terms of meeting [WMATA] standards" and required additional work, officials said in a press release.

That work includes adjusting tension on the doors and switches, as well as checking all screw mechanisms. Staff will also perform a more intensive inspection of all components.

The agency's 4000-series cars will be returned gradually to passenger service over the next month, WMATA officials said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently found "major problems" with WMATA's safety management practices, according to The Washington Post. The FTA is slated to release the report today, the newspaper said.