Metro superintendent reassigned following crash

WASHINGTON — The Washington-area mass transit authority has temporarily reassigned the superintendent of the automatic control system that is supposed to prevent train crashes.

Federal investigators said Thursday that Metro’s signaling system failed to detect a test train stopped in the same place as one that was struck during a deadly crash this week.

Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said Friday that Matthew Matyuf has been temporarily assigned to a “special project.” Taubenkibel would not elaborate on what that project was, or how long the reassignment would last.

Test results indicate the oncoming train involved in Monday’s crash that killed nine may have lacked information that another train was stopped on the tracks ahead.