According
to a 44 page Inspector General report issued last week, lax Federal Transit
Authority supervision over construction of the 29 station, 23 mile, $6.8
billion Silver Line rail service from Washington D.C. to Dulles International
Airport is leading to cost overruns, schedule delays, and imperiling passenger
safety on the trains scheduled to begin service on part of the project next
year. Plagued by political battles over funding and passenger safety, the
project has been attacked by politicians in some Virginia counties concerned
that construction of the rail line will destroy the pastoral nature of their
communities.
According
to the IG report, FTA took 2 years to complete testing of bridge pilings
criticized by the project’s chief bridge manager as unsafe for rail operations
and below the FTA standard of 50 year useful life expectance, due in particular
to excessive corrosion caused by stray electrical currents affecting the
pilings nearest the power rails. Furthermore, the report points out, FTA has
not yet insisted on a recovery plan from WMATA for late delivery of the rail
cars to move as many as 60,000 riders per day expected to use the line once it
opens next year.
Congress
won’t approve a fiscal year budget, and attrition is taking a toll on the work
forces of many federal government agencies as a result. Is it any wonder that
bureaucrats in understaffed offices like the FTA are taking too long to act on
problems they know about?
