D.C. residents say vibrations caused by Metro trains damaging homes

Over the last several months, several D.C. residents have reported vibrations they say are caused by passing Metro trains.

FOX 5's Bob Barnard and FOX 5 contributor and WAMU transportation reporter Martin Di Caro, spoke with a woman in Northeast D.C. who says that trains passing under her home are damaging her home.

Victoria Tyson has lived in her home on Gallatin Street for 26 years and said she just started to feel the train vibrations last summer. She said she contacted D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie and Metro after feeling the vibrations in August that she says fell like small earthquakes.

"I always knew the train was underneath my home but never felt or heard anything all these years. Suddenly, out of the blue, in mid-August it shakes my entire house," Tyson said.

Tyson says the vibrations start before 6 a.m. and last until midnight. She says that because of the shaking, structural issues have weakened her floors in her dining room and in upstairs rooms.

Di Caro says the complaints of vibrations have come after the new 7000 series railcars were added to the lines. Di Caro says the new trains are significantly heavier than the ones they are replacing.

Tyson's neighbor says her home has also suffered damages she believes is due to the vibrations called with passing railcars

"Having to deal with this is something that these residents should not have to do and Metro needs to fix it," McDuffie told Barnard on Friday. McDuffie says Metro has hired an engineer that specializes in vibrations and acoustics to investigate the problem.

In December, residents of D.C.'s Petworth neighborhood in the Northwest spoke with FOX 5 regarding vibrations and shaking. In February of this year, residents in D.C.'s Southwest Waterfront neighborhood told FOX 5 Metro trains were causing their homes to rattle.