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NCDOT: Delayed maintenance directly contributed to CATS derailment risk

CHARLOTTE — Dozens of CATS light rail trains are at risk of derailment, and letters from the North Carolina Department of Transportation obtained by Channel 9 show that CATS was warned last year to make safety changes to prevent derailments.

This comes days after we learned about the derailment risk from CATS Interim CEO Brent Cagle, who said he was only informed of the risk two weeks ago. City Manager Marcus Jones said he only found out about the issue at the same time Cagle did.

Cagle said he was told about an incident in May of 2022, when a light rail train derailed between the Scaleybark and Woodlawn stations.

Cagle says the derailment was due to a faulty bearing -- the middle section of the light rail vehicles became detached from the track. Cagle says all 42 light rail vehicles suffer from the same issue that caused the May 2022 derailment, but he said a mitigation plan is in place and he is confident in the safety of the light rail.

A letter from NCDOT, which oversees the safety response to the derailment, sent to CATS on Feb. 6 says Charlotte’s public transit group should consider a systemwide speed restriction on light rail vehicles to give operators more time to react and to reduce wear and tear.

The letter says NCDOT also found two unacceptable hazardous conditions in CATS’ operation. NCDOT says delayed maintenance directly contributed to the derailments. NCDOT also said that solely relying on temperature monitoring wasn’t enough.

CATS is still doing the temperature monitoring, but it has also added the speed restrictions. Light rail vehicles aren’t going more than 35 miles per hour, as opposed to their usual speeds of 40 to 45 miles per hour.

Cagle reiterated that he believes the CATS Blue Line is safe.

“I am 100% confident that CATS Blue Line, CATS rail is safe,” he said. “Safety and security are our top priority.”

However, it may be a few years before all of the issues with the faulty bearings are fixed. The first batch of about 20 train cars will be fixed by 2025, according to CATS’ contract.

Timeline, per CATS:

  • May 21, 2022: LYNX Blue Line train was traveling northbound on Track one. After crossing through the Old Pineville Grade Crossing between Scaleybark and Woodlawn stations, a wheel on the middle truck of Light Rail Vehicle 201 derailed and traveled 1,206 feet down the alignment before coming to a stop safely. The middle truck wheel came off of the tracks. It did not turn on its side or fall to the ground. There were 24 passengers onboard, and they were all able to offload safely. One passenger did request a medical evaluation on-scene. No passenger or employee was injured or transported from the scene. (see derailment photo attached)
  • May 24, 2022: Preliminary Incident Report submitted to NCDOT SSO
  • Jan. 25, 2023: Initial Final Incident Report submitted to NCDOT SSO
  • Feb. 6, 2023: After providing NCDOT SSO additional information they requested, NCDOT SSO notified CATS that there needed to be a corrective action plan submitted. NCDOT also asked CATS to consider implementing a systemwide light rail vehicle speed restriction on the LYNX Blue Line.
  • Feb. 17, 2023: CATS took immediate action before approval of the NCDOT SSO corrective action plan and implemented a speed restriction programmed systemwide for the LYNX Blue Line of 35 miles per hour. Over the next few days, CATS and NCDOT SSO worked together to create the corrective action plan.
  • Feb. 21, 2023: Revised Final Incident Report submitted to NCDOT SSO
  • March 1, 2023: NCDOT SSO accepts CATS Final Incident Report
  • March 2, 2023: NCDOT SSO approved the corrective action plan submitted by CATS. CATS worked internally to ensure all measures are in place to meet the reporting of the NCDOT SSO corrective action plan.
  • March 13, 2023: Interim CEO Brent Cagle gave a 90-day status update to City Council on his time at CATS.

The NCDOT’s State Safety Oversight Program is responsible for monitoring CATS’ compliance with its light rail and streetcar safety plan.


(WATCH: 2 dead in crash along LYNX Blue Line in south Charlotte, police say)