CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Deltrin Harris is no longer the chief of rail operations for the Charlotte Area Transit System, interim CATS CEO Brent Cagle said Monday.
Harris was suspended from his job in May and placed on administrative leave. Although no reason was ever publically given, the transit agency has been scrutinized for recent derailments, staffing shortages, and weakening public transit.
Harris joined CATS in December 2020 after spending 18 years with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, according to a public social media account. In that same month, the transit authority in Washington released a statement exonerating Harris of alleged wrongdoing. However, that same audit also detailed a need to overhaul that city's rail operation center to improve "training, procedures and processes, staffing, supervisions, and other areas."
Derailment scrutiny
CATS has confirmed at least two Blue Line derailments since 2022. CATS leadership faced scrutiny for failing to disclose the 2022 derailment for nearly a year.
No one was injured when a set of wheels came off the track in 2022. City Manager Marcus Jones was only notified of the derailment by a text message from then-CATS CEO John Lewis. Jones has since admitted he missed that text message, and that the agency made no further disclosures to city council or the public about the derailment.
Earlier this year, it was disclosed for the first time the 2022 derailment was caused by a faulty axle bearing near the wheels. Every Blue Line train contains the same potential defect, and CATS has been working with the manufacturer, Siemens, to arrange the transport and repair of the impacted rail cars.
Despite a pledge to improve public transparency, when a CATS light rail train derailed again on May 10 of this year CATS only publically disclosed the incident after news reports of the derailment were published the following day. In this incident, the train was not carrying passengers when it derailed in the maintenance yard in Charlotte's South End neighborhood.
It was not disclosed whether Harris resigned or was terminated from his job with the city of Charlotte.
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