Any Way to Run a Railroad?

So why, exactly, didn't Capital Metro's new MetroRail commuter rail line start up on Monday as scheduled, instead being indefinitely delayed? One reason is that its crossing gates weren't working as planned, though Cap Metro initially felt that wasn't enough of a problem to stop the launch of service and planned a "work-around," as the agency put it – stationing police officers at the gates to make sure no cars were on the tracks as trains approached.

The bigger reason, however, was that the Federal Railroad Administration wasn't happy with the testing of five engineers who would be driving the trains – and who are actually hired by labor subcontractor Veolia Transportation.

Among the 22 problems listed in a March 17 inspection report from the FRA:

• A "safety conduct evaluation of national driver register motor vehicle history" was not performed on the five engineers.

• Hearing and visual acuity exams were not performed.

• The five had only two hours of performance skills training at the controls of the locomotive instead of the 20 required for certification.

• "Hours of service" records did not correctly record the total time on duty of 40 employees.

• A listing of all injuries and occupational illnesses within 30 days of their occurrence was not posted.

• Capital Metro's efficiency-testing program needs revisions to include the minimum number of FRA tests and inspections.

• Documentation of the proper use of certain radio frequencies had not been provided.

• The supervisor of engineers was designated by Veolia; the FRA mandates that the supervisor officially be designated by Capital Metro.

• And the violations that originally led Cap Metro to announce a delay from March 30: Some train engineers took train cars into sections of track for which they were not authorized to enter.

Of the last, Veolia noted in a press statement: "Both incidents occurred during training exercises on segments of track closed to other traffic and designated for testing in preparation for the commencement of service. In neither instance was there any immediate risk to any person or property."

As for the others, Veolia said: "While Veolia has since followed FRA recommended actions, we will be presenting to the FRA evidence to mitigate the recommended violations cited. ... In addition, a question raised by the FRA as to the certification of one of the training supervisors arose not from a lack of certification but a lack of documentation among records that showed proper certification."

While various elected officials have said they fully support the delay, they also expressed frustration. "I found it very disheartening that things like eye and ear and hearing exams were overlooked or missed," said Austin City Council member and Capital Metro board member Mike Martinez. "When you've been planning and working on something for years and you've spent hundreds of millions of dollars on it, something like paperwork for a hearing exam that can literally cause problems for the whole program just should not happen."