City Of Charlotte Calling For Federal Investigation Into CATS Mishandling Of Train Derailment

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte’s City Manager is now saying he was told about a train derailment last year, he just missed the text.

The  train derailment happened in May of 2022. More than 30 people were on board. There were no injuries but we WCCB was told that it didn’t get reported to the city for nearly a year.

On Thursday, Charlotte City Manager, Marcus Jones, said he actually did get a text from former CATS CEO John Lewis the day of the derailment.

“The way that this was constructed with the concept of minor derailment either didn’t register with me or it’s just something I totally missed,” said Jones of the text he received regarding the derailment.

The city is now asking the Federal Transit Agency to review CATS two years earlier than it normally would.

Part of the investigation is to find out if protocol was followed in this situation.

The city is also suspending the search for the next CATS CEO for six months to “stabilize” the transit system.