Charlotte’s troubled transit agency puts chief of rail operations on leave
The Charlotte Area Transit System’s chief of rail operations was placed on administrative leave with pay, a spokesperson for the agency said Tuesday.
Deltrin Harris, who oversees the CATS Blue Line light rail and Gold Line streetcar, makes about $173,000 yearly according to the city’s salary database. He started in his current role in 2020, according to his public social media profiles.
Gary Lee will be Harris’ interim replacement. He previously served in the role and has more than 25 years of experience, CATS spokesperson Brandon Hunter said.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge to his interim role,” Hunter said in an email to The Charlotte Observer.
Harris’ leave comes a year after a light rail train derailed on the Blue Line, an incident that was previously undisclosed to the city council and the public until earlier this year. A former CATS employee who worked under Harris also sued the city this month over the incident.
Harris has also seen challenges that include three other derailments in the railyard where passengers were not on board.
He’s the latest in a series of Charlotte transit administrators to be placed on leave or depart the agency entirely. But it’s not clear why Harris was placed on leave.
CATS Chief Operating Officer Allen Smith retired April 1 after being placed on administrative leave with no pay this year. Former CEO John Lewis resigned in November 2022 after a year of staffing shortages, declining ridership, a shooting into a bus and reduced ride frequency. The organization’s CFO also left last year, and has since been replaced by Charlotte Water CFO Chad Howell.
WBTV was first to report Harris’ leave.
Staffing issues
Harris supervised Terry Creech, a former light rail controller who was fired for the derailment in June 2022. Creech filed the suit seeking monetary damages and accusing CATS management of wrongful, hostile termination. The suit also claims Creech was fired out of retaliation because he reported the derailment.
Creech said he was the only light rail controller working at the time of the 2022 derailment. And an unannounced inspection by the state’s transportation department revealed the Rail Operating Control Center, known internally as the ROCC, has sometimes operated with only one controller.
An April 1 letter from the North Carolina Department of Transportation threatened to suspend Charlotte’s light rail service if the city did not fully staff its light rail operations division.
It’s standard for at least two controllers to work at the same time to run both Charlotte’s Gold Line and Blue Line trains efficiently, the NCDOT inspection found. It’s preferable for a rail controller chief to also be working with them, interim CATS CEO Brent Cagle said.
“If the ROCC cannot be staffed with at least two (2) fully qualified ROCC employees, on any work shift, then CATS shall cease revenue service on the line affected by not having a dedicated ROCC employee assigned,” the April letter from the NCDOT to Cagle says.
Timeline of transit troubles
Over the past several months, CATS has faced a laundry list of transit controversy — from light rail issues to shootings on buses.
▪ In March, Cagle told the City Council the entire Blue Line fleet must be repaired to fix a part defect that was found after the May 21, 2022, train derailment while 24 passengers were on board. No one was injured.
▪ Later in March, Cagle told the Metropolitan Transit Commission CATS skipped inspections on light rail bridges and parking garages in 2021, despite a federal requirement to complete them.
▪ On March 30, City Manager Marcus Jones told media he found a text he missed from Lewis informing him about the derailment.
“I share this information because it’s different from what I initially shared. It was an honest mistake,” Jones said during the March news conference. “I missed it.”
Jones said at the time he was suspending the search for a new CEO until the fall to give time for CATS to “stabilize” and also requested an off-cycle review of the agency from the Federal Transit Administration. NCDOT sent the letter threatening to cut light rail service in response to staffing issues a day later.
▪ On April 19, Lewis gave his first interview since his departure to the Observer, alleging he raised the alarm on procurement backups that led to light rail maintenance issues and missed inspections. Cagle and Jones deny this.
Council members told the Observer they would consider Jones’ role in the city’s transit troubles during his annual review scheduled for late June.
▪ Creech’s lawsuit came to light on May 11, which accused the city of “actively concealing” public information and evidence related to the derailment. While CATS told the public the derailment was an “system error,” it simultaneously accused Creech of committing a “safety error.”
▪ Last week, a Charlotte Man opened fire on a CATS bus, shooting a bus driver near Charlotte Premium Outlet Mall after an argument. He faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injuries, carrying a concealed firearm and communicating threats, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release. It’s unclear if the bus operator, who was also carrying a gun and shot at the man, will face charges.
The recent shooting has reignited questions about public safety on city buses. In February 2022, bus operator Ethan Rivera died in a shooting on a bus after a road rage incident.
This story was originally published May 23, 2023 at 1:44 PM.
