Red Line

For those riding the Red Line these days, how’s it going? “Red Line construction expands to Gallery Place, Judiciary Square starting Friday through weekend only”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Jim

“there will be no Red Line service between Dupont Circle and Gallery Place from Monday, Dec. 18 through Saturday, Dec. 30.”

Sounds like it got off to a rough start on Monday – have things smoothed out a bit?

From WMATA:

“Metro is reminding customers major construction on the Red Line will be extended beginning on Friday, Dec. 22 through Sunday, Dec. 24, with no Red Line service to Gallery Place and Judiciary Square stations, in addition to Farragut North and Metro Center currently. Free shuttle buses will run frequently between the affected stations. (more…)

“Metrorail Safety Commission gave its concurrence to allow Metro to fully operate in Auto Door mode on the Red Line starting today.”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Julian Ortiz

From WMATA:

“After weeks of certifying operators to use Automatic Door Operation on some Red Line trains, the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission gave its concurrence to allow Metro to fully operate in Auto Door mode on the Red Line starting today.

Customers will notice faster entries and exits on Red Line trains, causing doors to open within 3-5 seconds after the train stops on the station platform. The time saved per stop is around 10-15 seconds. (more…)

Today “Red Line trains will operate every 6 minutes until 9:30 p.m. on weekdays, an improvement from every 8 minutes during off-peak daytime hours”

By Prince Of Petworth

From WMATA:

“Red Line customers will enjoy more frequent weekday service beginning Monday, June 12, and that’s just the start of improvements rolling out for rail and bus customers throughout the month of June.

Beginning Monday, Red Line trains will operate every 6 minutes until 9:30 p.m. on weekdays, an improvement from every 8 minutes during off-peak daytime hours. On weekends, Red Line trains will continue operating every 8 minutes all day, and every 10 minutes after 9:30 p.m. seven days a week.

“Ridership is bouncing back, and Your Metro continues to deliver service improvements to meet the travel demands of the region,” said Metro General Manger and Chief Executive Officer Randy Clarke. “Ridership continues to set records on rail and bus, and we’re excited to deliver service improvements that will save our customers time and money at all times, every day of the week.”

Beginning June 26, Blue, Orange, and Silver Line customers will see service increases as well. (more…)

“More service coming to the Red Line during weekday rush hours starting Monday, May 8”

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by CTB in DC

From WMATA:

“Starting Monday, May 8, Red Line trains will arrive every six minutes during the busiest weekday periods from 6 – 9 a.m. and 3 – 7 p.m. The change will help relieve crowding during rush hours when Red Line trains are at or near capacity. During the midweek 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. hours most trains between Union Station and Metro Center have more than 90 people packed in each railcar, with some trains reaching 150 passengers per car. (more…)

“During the 10 commuting days customers who use these metro lines are being encouraged to plan alternate routes now and use Metro only if absolutely necessary.”

By Prince Of Petworth

From WMATA:

“Metro is reminding customers to plan for two upcoming summer capital improvement projects to keep Metro on its current path of improved safety and reliability. The work will impact customers who use the Red, Orange, Blue and Silver lines.

During the 10 commuting days of the Orange, Blue and Silver line work in particular, customers who use these lines are being encouraged to plan alternate routes now and use Metro only if absolutely necessary.

Metro announced both projects in February, scheduling the work for late summer when ridership is generally lighter.

One month from today, following Major League Baseball’s All-Star Week, Metro will close two stations on the Red Line – Rhode Island Ave and Brookland – to complete structural repairs at Rhode Island Ave, Metro’s oldest outdoor station. The work will begin Saturday, July 21, and continue through Labor Day, Monday, September 3.

The second capital project will impact all Blue, Orange and Silver line riders for 10 commuting days in August as Metro completely rebuilds the sharpest and most heavily traveled curve in the Metrorail system, located between Metro Center and Smithsonian stations.

For full details view news release.”

From DDOT:

“Today, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), announced plans to install temporary bus lanes on Rhode Island Avenue NE to manage traffic during the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s planned closure of two Metrorail stations on the Red Line beginning July 21. (more…)

Scary Scene on the Red Line Metro this Morning

By Prince Of Petworth

thinkerhoff
photo by @thinkerhoff used with permission

Just came across this scary scene on Facebook. @thinkerhoff tweeted:

“group of 4 teens on the train toward G.mont just set off the fire extinguisher and smoke bombs @ RI”

“Happened around 8:40 at RI heading towards Glenmont. 4 teens who boarded at Gallery Place.”

“Dude had an asthma attack.”

“We were all choking”

“We were all stuck and coughing. They ran off at Rhode Island station“

Chinatown-Gallery Place 8:30am – Not Good

By Prince Of Petworth

chinatown_train

A reader reports to the PoPville Facebook page:

“This is the Chinatown metro at 830 today.

Complete cluster

Lots of time listed between trains, but those trains never came and the platform just got more and more crowded”

Metro reported:

“Red Line: Expect residual delays in both directions due to an earlier train malfunction at Judiciary Square.”

Update – Angela Miller sends us the scene at Union Station at 8:50am:

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Another Disturbing Report of Youth Lawlessness on Metro “They immediately began harassing and terrorizing fellow passengers”

By Prince Of Petworth

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Photo by PoPville flickr user Pablo Raw

Ed. Note: Perhaps some of our feckless Council Members will start to recognize that we have a serious problem here…

Thanks to a reader for passing on from the Brookland listserv:

“This evening I had a terrible and frightening experience on the red line. I boarded a train at Brookland at about 4:45 PM. A group of approximately 20 high school students (male & female) boarded the same train at NOMA. The group boarded screaming obscenities.They immediately began harassing and terrorizing fellow passengers. They messed with me a bit (took the hat off my head, took videos of me, screamed in my face, etc) and later bothered another gentleman, and eventually a third person which resulted in physical violence. Almost all of the group was involved in the violence- swearing, screaming, kicking and punching, laughing, and again taking pictures and videos. I tried my best to pull some teens off of the man. I couldn’t get off at Union Station because I was blocked in. I eventually got off at Judiciary Square and reported the incident to metro police.

I have lived and worked in Brookland for nearly 16 years. This is the first time I have experienced an incident of this magnitude.”

Random Reader Rant and/or Revel

By Prince Of Petworth

metro center
Photo by PoPville flickr user Phil

Meanwhile at Metro Center…

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. But please no personal attacks and no need to correct people’s grammar. This is a place to vent and/or celebrate things about daily life in DC.

The Humanity!

By Prince Of Petworth

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lrothschild tweets us at 9:10am:

“Scene at Bethesda, no escalators working”

WMATA tweets:

“Red Line trains are bypassing Bethesda station due to an escalator outage. Shuttle bus service from Medical Center. 9:10a #wmata”

“Red Line: No longer bypassing Bethesda. Station has re-opened, escalator service restored.”

Earlier WMATA tweeted a similar situation at Woodley Park:

“Red Line: Trains are temporarily bypassing Woodley Park due to an escalator outage. Shuttle bus service is available from Cleveland Park.

Red Line trains are no longer bypassing Woodley Park, the station has reopened. 7:18a #wmata”

and not sure if related but:

“Red Line: Expect delays in both directions due to a police investigation at Woodley Park.”

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