“they might shut down entire rail lines for as long as six months for maintenance”

UPDATE from WMATA:

“In response to questions I have seen from many of you, I want to let you know that I am working on a long-range maintenance plan for the rail system to ensure safe and reliable service. The plan is in development now, and I expect to have it ready in 4-6 weeks. I want to reassure you that, while I am keeping options open on how to proceed, no decisions have been made. Moreover, any service change in the plan that could affect your commute will receive ample notice to customers, businesses, stakeholders and the region as a whole.

You have my commitment that I will keep you informed once the plan is ready. In the meantime, I will advise you if there are any steps that must be taken on a priority basis to keep the rail system running safely and reliably.

Sincerely,

Paul J. Wiedefeld
Metro General Manager/CEO”

Thanks to all who sent links to this depressing story from the Post:

“Metro’s top officials warned Wednesday that the transit system is in such need of repair that they might shut down entire rail lines for as long as six months for maintenance, potentially snarling thousands of daily commutes and worsening congestion in the already traffic-clogged region.”

Jack Evans has been tweeting on the subject:

“If we don’t act now to fix #WMATA infrastructure & finances, we won’t have a system to fix in 10 yrs. #metrosummit”

“Where can u see orig. 40y.o. #WMATA car? Smithsonian? No need. We have 2 fix decades of mis-mgmt/under-investment.”

GM 2 craft plan, comm. w/ riders/region. But needs r great &solutions will b difficult. I support Wiedefeld. #wmata https://t.co/TCfqQRHO2l

— Jack Evans (@JackEvansWard2) March 31, 2016

So about those bike lanes…