Mind the Gap in Metrorail Doors

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (1)

JUST AS THE EVENING RUSH last night was heating up, a Metrorail operator reported seeing smoke near the Smithsonian station. Blue and Orange Line train service was halted for about an hour before being restored at around 5 p.m.

The slowdown made for a messy commute. But the evening could have been much worse — especially if passengers would have fallen out of a Red Line train between the Farragut North and Dupont Circle stations. In extremely crowded conditions, one set of doors on a Shady Grove-bound train began to open before this writer's eyes. Not all the way, thankfully, but the gap — perhaps an inch or so wide — was of enough concern to prompt this writer to alert Metro authorities.

The scene unfolded just after 7 p.m. A six-car train pulled into the Metro Center station, but the second car was out of service for an unknown reason. With only five cars available, this writer and many others on the crowded platform crammed into the third car. It was one of the most uncomfortable transit experiences we can remember. And the train was heading toward even greater crowds: The normally congested Red Line segment between Farragut North and Dupont Circle.

When the train doors opened at Farragut North, passengers crammed into spaces that could not accommodate them. Since the laws of physics wouldn't stop them, the passive-aggressive glares of squished fellow passengers didn't either. One man already on the train yelled at a Farragut North newcomer about trying to squeeze on. "I'm not doing anything wrong," the newcomer proudly replied.

But something was wrong. As the train pulled out of Farragut North, the left front pair of doors on train car No. 3256 opened up ever so slightly.

In any normal circumstance, we would have gone to the emergency intercom to communicate the danger to the train operator. But moving anywhere in this overcrowded train was impossible. We had to wait until we left the train to alert Metro Transit Police.

We'll leave the analysis of what went wrong with the train doors to Metro. But we can safely say that if it wasn't for the overabundance of bodies straining against the car's doors, the gap probably wouldn't have been there. Disaster didn't unfold on the Red Line last night, but that ride was a little too close for comfort. We'll be sure to follow up with Metro on this one.

Archive photo of Metrorail crowding by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post