ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Many local residents and Metro riders are questioning the safety on the rails after four Metro employees have died on the job since the end of June.

John Moore, 44, was a communications technician for Metro. He is the most recent Metro employee killed while on the job in what has been a horrific summer for the transit system.

Authorities say Moore was airlifted to the hospital after being hit by a Metro train Thursday. The 12-year veteran had serious injuries after the accident between the Braddock Road and Reagan National Airport (web | news) stations. On Monday night -- four days after the accident -- he died.

News he died caught Moore's neighbors off guard Tuesday. Said neighbor Keisa Adams, "It keeps happening. It's like, 'What's wrong?' It's like, 'OK Metro, what the hell are [you all] doing?'"

The accidents keep piling up with three Metro employees and a subcontractor having died on the job since June.

"That's June, July, August, September -- four months? That's a worker a month," said Lilian Oben, a Metro rider. "That's not a good average."

Metro general manager John Catoe spoke exclusively with ABC 7 News Tuesday. He said Metro has, "Got to get back to the basics of safety." Referring to the employee deaths, though none in particular, he said, "In some cases, our procedures were not followed." He pointed to the four suicides on the tracks this summer saying, "Some things are out of our control."

Metro officials say Moore walked down a staircase in a hatch, opened a door to the track bed area and was hit by the Blue Line train. They don't yet know why he was on the tracks.

"It's like flying in an airplane," added Jim Gormley, a Metro rider. "You know, so many flights happen every day, every minute and when it's your turn to get into a problem, it's [going to] be your turn."

Many riders expressed concern that Metro workers aren't being properly trained.

"A lot of times the reasons these things happen within systems is because people are not communicating or coordinating properly,