Transit

Photo by PoPville flickr user Shamila Chaudhary

From WMATA:

“Dear Metrorail Customer,

I know that it was a tough commute this morning for our Blue, Orange and Silver line customers. I want to provide you with an update so that you can plan for the commute home.

About 4:30 a.m., the Rail Operations Control Center received a report of a fire in the tunnel outside McPherson Square Station. Buses were called in to substitute for trains through downtown until the fire department cleared in the 6 a.m. hour. Metro restored limited rail service using a single track between Foggy Bottom and Federal Triangle stations.

I know that many of you experienced delays of 30 to 60 minutes on Blue and Orange line trains this morning. Silver Line trains were turned back at Ballston Station to reduce congestion downtown, and some trains bypassed stations to ease delays for the greatest number of customers.

Hopefully you received timely notification of the disruption through our communication channels: wmata.com, MetroAlerts email and text messages or the news media. (If you are not signed up for MetroAlerts, please take a moment to sign up at wmata.com/metroalerts.)

Unfortunately, the fire damaged several cables that will need to be replaced tonight in order to restore full service for tomorrow. Single tracking will continue throughout the day and will affect the evening commute. If you have the ability to consider alternate travel options today, I encourage you to do so.

I have directed that repairs start at 9 p.m. tonight when ridership is lower. At that time, rail service will be suspended on both tracks between Foggy Bottom and Federal Triangle.

Rail service plans for the rest of today are as follows: (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Jim Havard

From WMATA:

“Blue/Orange: Limited train service being restored with single tracking btwn Foggy Bottom & Federal Center SW. Expect delays of 30-60 min.”

“Blue/Orange: Westbound trains will skip Smithsonian & Fed Triangle to reduce delays. Use eastbound trains or bus service from L’Enfant”

“Blue/Orange: Eastbound trains will skip Farragut West & McPherson Sq to reduce delays. Use westbound trains or bus service from Foggy Bottom”

“BL/OR/SV: Likely damage on 1 of 2 tracks requiring repairs. Best case will be single tracking this AM. Significant delays expected. #wmata”

“Approximately 18 shuttle buses are currently in operation for OR/SV/BL line service. #wmata”

“MTPD update re: McPherson Sq: Currently clearing residual smoke from earlier burning cable in tunnel. No trains in area, no injuries. #wmata”

via WMATA

From WMATA:

“At the direction of Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld, most Metro Transit Police Officers will soon be wearing brighter, more visible uniforms.

The neon yellow color block design with reflective trim will help Metro customers to more easily find MTPD officers on station platforms and trains. MTPD officers currently wear a dark navy blue uniform that can be hard to see in a crowd or in low-light conditions. (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user nevermindtheend

From WMATA:

“Metro GM/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld’s FY17 budget, which was approved today by the WMATA Board’s Finance Committee, will give customers something they have long requested: the ability to exit the same station they entered without being charged.

Responding to recommendations of the Riders’ Advisory Council and regular feedback from Metrorail customers, the new policy will permit riders who enter a station, particularly during a service disruption, to exit the same station within 15 minutes without being charged the base rail fare of $2.15 in the peak and $1.75 in the off-peak. The grace period program will begin July 1.

“This is all about refocusing on our customers and recognizing that everything we do should be focused on safety and service reliability,” said Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld. “I am pleased that the Board supported this policy, which is directly responsive to customer feedback.”

A reader reports just after 8:30am:

“Flames and smoke on westbound orange line tracks between Ballston and East Falls Church. Crazy! I called 911 and they said that fire trucks were already on their way.”

Another reader writes:

“orange and silver trains holding due to “smoldering rail tie” between ballston and East falls church”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw

From WMATA:

“In his first public policy address since being appointed Metro’s General Manager/CEO last November, Paul J. Wiedefeld today [Monday] began to lay out his plans to make Metro safer and more secure, improve service reliability, and get its financial house in order.

During a luncheon at the National Press Club, Wiedefeld discussed his roadmap for restoring the public’s trust in Metro. While confronting some hard truths regarding Metro’s current safety culture, declining ridership and the mechanical failures that have caused a deterioration in Metrorail on-time performance, Wiedefeld identified clear priorities with defined immediate and longer range deliverables for the entire Authority.

“In many ways, what you see here today is the CEO’s ‘To Do’ list to get Metro back on track,” said Wiedefeld. “It’s my commitment to be transparent about what needs to be fixed, how we are going to fix it, and ensure that our stakeholders can easily monitor progress so that public confidence is restored in Metro.”

Wiedefeld said there is no single action that will turn Metro around but a combination of efforts “to grind out critical changes at all levels” is needed to improve the customer experience.  Some of those actions are already underway – including increased police patrols, installing new radio systems and cell phone cabling in tunnels, changes to rail car parts inventory, and the accelerated delivery of 7000-series trains.

Other actions will be implemented over the next weeks and months, such as a rail service reliability program to reduce waiting, crowding and passenger offloads. Other highlights include: (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Rob Cannon

From WMATA:

“Reconstruction of the Metrorail system will continue over the weekend of March 4-6 with service adjustments on all six lines. Trains will operate as follows:

Orange and Blue line trains will operate every 20 minutes.
Silver Line trains will operate every 10 minutes between Wiehle-Reston East and Ballston only.
Yellow Line trains will operate regular weekend intervals between Huntington and Mt. Vernon Sq only.
Free shuttle buses replace Green Line trains between Navy Yard and Congress Heights.

From 12:01 a.m. Saturday through closing Sunday, buses will replace Green Line trains between Navy Yard and Congress Heights. During this time, Anacostia station will be closed.

Red Line trains will operate every 12-24 minutes.”

And don’t forget:

“Starting Sunday, March 6, Metrorail faregates accept SmarTrip only and will no longer accept paper farecards, a key milestone on Metro’s yearlong phase-out of the outdated fare media. Customers with paper farecards may transfer the value to a SmarTrip card by using the brown vending machines at Metrorail stations or at any Metro sales office through June 30, 2016.”