metro

The Dreaded Return of This Weekend’s Metro Track Work

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Joe Flood

From WMATA:

“Reconstruction of the Metrorail system will continue over the weekend of April 29 – May 1 with service adjustments on five of six lines. Trains will operate as follows:

Green Line trains will operate regular weekend intervals.
Red Line trains will operate every 7-15 minutes.
Orange, Silver and Blue line trains will operate every 18 minutes.
Yellow Line trains will operate every 18 minutes between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Sq only.”

About Saturday’s Metro Mess and Fire near the Friendship Heights Metro Station

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo sent to us Saturday night by charosb

From WMATA:

“The investigation into the cause of a Saturday evening smoke incident outside Friendship Heights Station is ongoing. While Metro has not yet identified the root cause of the incident, investigators have eliminated power cables as a contributing factor.

As a preliminary matter, the investigation is focusing on a foreign object, specifically a metal part of a railcar, becoming dislodged and making contact with the electrified third rail. The foreign contact is believed to have caused a loud noise, flash and smoke.

Investigators have conducted inspections of all power infrastructure in the tunnel, as well as all cars of the incident train, to reach this preliminary conclusion.

Preliminary Investigative Findings as of 5 p.m. Monday, April 25 (more…)

Red Line Blues this Morning

By Prince Of Petworth

pain sculpture

From WMATA:

“Red Line: Trains are single tracking between Van Ness & Dupont Circle due to unscheduled track repairs. Expect delays. .”

“Red Line: Outbound trains are bypassing Woodley Park & Cleveland Park to reduce delays. Use inbound trains for these station.”

“It was very upsetting to be taken hostage by metro, with no questions asked.”

By Prince Of Petworth

metro
Photo by PoPville flickr user James Jackson

“Dear PoPville,

I reported this to WMATA earlier today. Were any other readers on this train?

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing about my very unsettling experience on the Red Line metro on April 13, 2016. I am very disappointed by the train driver/operator/conductor and would appreciate his/her response to my inquiry below.

QUESTION: Why did the train operator not make an announcement on the train to ensure that all passengers were ABLE to disembark at Silver Spring prior to heading straight for Brookland with no interim stops? It was very upsetting to be taken hostage by metro today, with no questions asked. (more…)

Metro Hires new Chief Safety Officer – Patrick Lavin

By Prince Of Petworth

metro
Photo by PoPville flickr user Ken Yu

From WMATA:

“Metro General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Paul J. Wiedefeld today announced that Patrick Lavin has been hired as Metro’s new Chief Safety Officer. Mr. Lavin comes to Metro from New York City Transit (NYCT), where he is second in command of the agency’s Office of System Safety. His first day at Metro will be Monday, May 9. (more…)

“I want to get word out of what happened so no one else makes the mistake of thinking of going to metro as a safe haven like I did.”

By Prince Of Petworth

petworthe metro

“Dear PoPville,

I was walking home from the grocery store and crossing Randolph when a blue Altima made a full at full speed almost hitting into me. I put my hand on the car out of instinct when you are about to be hit. They were so pissed I touched there car. They went into the Wendy’s turned around and chased me down with their car. There were 5 people in the car. I ran towards the metro because I saw police there earlier. No police were outside so I ran into the station.

2 of the girls jumped out of the car and ran down into the metro station after me. I was banging on the booth asking for help. The metro attendant took his time and called the police. He did not offer me refuge in the booth. Instead only let me on the other side of the turnstiles where the girls then took a full box of bus schedules that was left on the floor and slammed it against my head. The other metro lady found this funny and laughed. The metro janitor also laughed saying should I clean this up or is this evidence. The metro police came 15 to 20 mins after being called followed by the dc police.

I had a partial license plate, car type and color. Both the girls were caught on camera. They said “I Guess we can request footage” No one asked me one if I was okay. Metros safety push is a joke. I have never felt more unsafe. I want to get word out of what happened so no one else makes the mistake of thinking of going to metro as a safe haven like I did. Assault to them seems to be funny.”

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

By Prince Of Petworth

metro mess

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.”

So about those bike lanes…

Shooting inside the Deanwood Metro Saturday

By Prince Of Petworth

map
via google maps

From Metro Transit Police just before 5pm on Saturday:

“Deanwood Station temp closed for shooting investigation. @DCPoliceDept has the lead on this case & all info will come from MPD.”

Alan Henney reported:

“u/d on DEANWOOD METRO SHOOTING- Victim is a 15/16yr-old male in cardiac arrest (probably fatal), shot x2 in chest while on station platform.”

UPDATE from MPD:

“Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch announced that an arrest has been made in the homicide that occurred at the Deanwood Metro Station in the 4700 block of Minnesota Avenue, Northeast, on Saturday, March 26, 2016.

At approximately 3:57 pm, members of the Sixth District responded to a call for a shooting. Upon arrival, they located a juvenile male suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

The victim has been identified as 15-year-old Davonte Washington, of Northeast, DC.

On Monday March, 28, 2016, pursuant to a DC Superior Court arrest warrant, members of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested 17-year-old Maurice Bellamy, of Southeast, DC. He is being charged as an adult with Second Degree Murder While Armed.”

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