WMATA suspends Automatic Train Operation systemwide after Fort Totten crash
S5 · ~Jun 2009 · WMATA
Record
| Company | WMATA |
| Industry | Other |
| Type(s) | regulatory |
| Date | ~Jun 2009 (month precision) |
| Time of day | not documented |
| Location | no physical site (recall / fleet-wide / aggregate record) |
| Severity | (fatality or catastrophic loss) |
| Scale | fleet-wide, ~15 years |
| Confidence | high |
| Verified flag | Yes - independently re-checked against the cited source |
Summary
Following the fatal Fort Totten collision, WMATA turned off Automatic Train Operation (ATO) across the entire Metrorail system; ATO remained disabled for roughly 15 years until partial reactivation in December 2024.
Primary source
Publisher: Railway Age · Retrieved: 2026-09-16
Supporting source rows (1)
| Date | Supporting source row | Publisher | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~Jun 2009 | WMATA suspends Automatic Train Operation systemwide after Fort Totten crash | Railway Age | Railway Age |
WMATA other incidents timeline
Other context
regulatory context
WMATA industry position
Related incidents
Other WMATA entries
- ~Jan 2025 - 217 station overruns after ATO reactivation on Red Line
- 22 Jun 2009 - Fort Totten Red Line collision (ATC track circuit failure)
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