Ninety-nine Orion VI diesel-powered buses are back in service today for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) after Metrobus workers made temporary repairs to the vehicles’ hydraulic pumps. The Orion VI’s were taken out of service September 9 after a fire damaged a Metrobus on I-495 earlier in the day. Metro safety officials immediately made the proactive move to fix the buses. A permanent repair for the problem – believed to be in the pump fittings – has been approved. Maintenance workers had to disable the automatic control on the buses’ wheelchair ramps. Metro currently has 100 of the decade-old buses in its 1,500 fleet of buses. For more, visit www.wmata.com.
