Congressman Gerry Connolly issued the following comments following the briefing by the National Transportation Safety Board on the fatal Metrorail Crash that occurred on June 22, 2009 near the Fort Totten Metro station.

“Metro’s poor state of repair inconveniences riders daily, whether it’s broken escalators or train cars with no air conditioning. The NTSB report confirms our worst fears: The chronic failure of Metro’s aging core infrastructure is also putting lives at risk every day.”

“What is even more tragic is that it appears the tools to prevent this and other accidents were both known and available to Metro, but they were not put to use due to a lack of investment and lax safety leadership.”

“Every partner in the operation of Metro now bears responsibility for correcting the deficiencies that led up to this accident. In addition to the many actions already prescribed by the NTSB, Congress also must act to ensure Metro and other transit systems across the nation have the financial support they need to provide for the safety of their workers and commuters.”