Glitches May Delay Start of Red Line : Subway: Crews are working around the clock to solve problems, including car doors that do not close, to meet Jan. 11 opening.

Three weeks before Los Angeles’ first subway is scheduled to open, not all the cars are ready and transit officials face a laundry list of problems that have prompted questions about whether the Jan. 11 opening will be delayed.

Subway car doors on occasion do not close and a software glitch sometimes causes the trains to screech to a halt for no apparent reason. Tests of the fire emergency systems failed at four of five stations. The system to detect methane gas did not work at one station during a recent test. Maintenance teams lack sufficient numbers of spare parts. The brakes, train radios, and public address systems in the stations are unreliable.

But some transit officials say these problems are inherent in setting a new subway into motion. And solutions have been found for most difficulties, said Ed McSpedon, president of the Rail Construction Corp., which oversees construction of the subway.

“We don’t see any major showstoppers,” McSpedon said. “As problems are developed, solutions are developed. . . . We don’t have big problems that we don’t have a clue as to how to fix.”

Not all officials share his optimism.

“At this point, I’d characterize it as right on the margin,” said Art Leahy, assistant general manager of operations at RTD, addressing the RTD board last week. “If everything goes fine, we’ll make it. . . . We won’t rush into operations if it means a compromise of safety or reliability.”

Yet the catalogue of subway woes, detailed at a Rapid Transit District board meeting Thursday, was daunting to others.

“I’m against the January start-up date,” said RTD board member Antonio Villaraigosa. “I see nothing to indicate we are ready to go.”

Although transit officials have long been coy about setting a start-up date, word spread last month that they had selected Jan. 11, two months ahead of schedule. To meet that date, crews have been working around the clock in tunnels and on the trains.

Officials are scrambling to complete key administrative matters, such as deciding which agency will police the initial 4.4-mile segment of the Red Line and its five stations. The RTD board voted last week to use the RTD’s transit police, but this matter will be revisited when the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission meets next month and decides whether to fund the RTD’s choice.

The politics behind the start-up date make the decision even weightier as the city’s two rival transit agencies battle it out with renewed vigor before they merge, as required by state law, into the Metropolitan Transit Authority in February.

Some charge that Neil Peterson, transportation commission executive director, is pressing for a January start so he can flaunt it as he campaigns to head the MTA. Others say the RTD is dragging its feet to make Peterson look bad. Peterson was unavailable for comment. When asked after Thursday’s meeting if the system could open on time, he said: “We can make it.”

Attacks and sniping reached a crescendo last week as the pressure increased for a firm start-up date.

“A public relations pressure seems to be pushing an earlier than sensible start date on the Red Line,” said one RTD official, who asked not to be identified. “This is solely Neil Peterson because it suits his political agenda and his hopes to be selected as the head of the new agency.”

On the other side, an transit official, also requesting anonymity, said: “Taxpayers didn’t pay for this so we could play with it and play with it.”

On Monday, transit officials are expected to decide whether they can open the Red Line on Jan. 11. That decision, they say, will be based on safety and reliability of the system. McSpedon said an independent consultant is expected to issue a report Monday that will help evaluate the readiness of the system. A preliminary draft of the report indicated that there were few obstacles to a January start-up, McSpedon said.

“January 11 has been our work towards date and if it’s not there, it’s going to be close,” he said.

Although the list of what remains undone sounds lengthy and substantial, officials say it does not necessarily spell delay.

“I believe all these problems are solvable,” the RTD’s Leahy told the board. “As of this morning, they have not been solved yet.”

Before operating the trains for the public, officials decided that they needed to run them a minimum of 30 days--a reduction from a plan of 42 days. During this test that began Dec. 9, officials intend the trains to be operated a minimum of 14 hours a day.

So day after day, including the holidays, workers are slated to trouble-shoot and resolve any glitches that come up.

As McSpedon said: “We don’t want any warts or pimples out there on this madonna.”