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(To view a series of interactive inaugural maps, please visit washingtonpost.com's Inaugural Survival Guide.)
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED many times by now that the hordes of people descending on D.C., paired with myriad road and bridge closures, will make getting around on Tuesday a monumental struggle. But if you're still looking to try to get close to the inaugural action, our advice is simple: Have a plan and pack your patience. Here are some tips to help you out.
» Driving Downtown
Good luck. The reason the Secret Service did everything it could to prevent people from driving was to keep drivers from abandoning their cars out of frustration. That's how bad it's expected to be.
A drive-then-walk plan is not that ridiculous, assuming you know someone who lives in the city but outside of the security zone.
Even if you think you'll be able to find an out-of-the-way parking lot to stash your vehicle in, though, be prepared to shell out major cash.
Continue Reading "Conquering the Crowds: Inauguration Day Tips" »
IT'S NOT A GOOD MORNING for Red Line riders. A cracked rail near the Takoma station has forced trains to single-track between Silver Spring and Fort Totten at the height of the morning rush.
The transit agency warns of delays of at least 20 minutes. According to a press release, track crews are working to repair the problem.
Ready for that three-day weekend yet?
» UPDATE 8:38 a.m.: The crack has been repaired and single-tracking has ended, Metro says. Read the full press release below.
Continue Reading "Cracked Rail Spawns Delays on Metro's Red Line" »
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT will happen when Metro goes viral. Occasionally, their faux-low-budget ads are oddly intriguing. Sometimes, they offend local religious groups. It's a gamble every time.
This time, Metro uses a little kung-fu to discourage littering. A press release sets the scene:
Legend tells of a devoted kung fu warrior who traveled great distances throughout the Metro transit system in search of a worthy foe. The enemy had many different faces and claimed to have expert knowledge about every subject known to humankind. On a number of occasions, the warrior thought he’d finally found his enemy and banished it from the Metro system for all of eternity. But moments later, dozens of imposters would spring up around him.What enemy could possibly be so cunning?
The common commuter's daily newspaper.
Continue Reading "Metro Gets a Kung-Fu Grip With Littering PSA" »
WE STARTED THE DAY with a piece about slowness on the Orange Line, now we'll end the day that way, too. Get ready for some delays, commuters.
A "kink" in the rails — a bend created by high temperatures — was discovered at 3:15 this afternoon between East Falls Church and Ballston, Metro says. Orange Line trains are now sharing a track between Ballston and East Falls Church. Metro is also running shuttle buses between Ballston and Vienna, which are "stopping at Ballston-MU, East Falls Church, West Falls Church-VT/UVA, Dunn Loring-Merrifield and Vienna," according to a press release.
Good luck out there.
Photo by Michael Lutzky/The Washington Post
IT COULD BE THE START of something big for Metro: The U.S. House of Representatives this afternoon passed a measure that would allot $1.5 billion for the transit system over 10 years, as long as the District, Maryland and Virginia pony up funds as well, the Associated Press reports. The funding for Metro was added to an Amtrak bill.
The measure could meet resistance in the Senate, where Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has been blocking a bill on Metro funding, the AP reports.
» "House Approves Bill Giving Fed. Money to Metro" [AP/Fox5]
Photo by The Washington Post
Photo of commuters waiting for shuttle buses at Rosslyn on Monday by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post
IT HASN'T BEEN a great week for Metro.
Monday, of course, saw the derailment of a Vienna-bound train in the tunnel between Rosslyn and Court House, which left 412 passengers trapped for an hour and a half and snarled the system at the height of evening rush. But last night's ride home wasn't much better — the packed, barely air-conditioned train I traveled on at around 6:30 p.m. crawled from station to station.
And this morning, a switch problem at the Rosslyn station caused backups along the Blue and Orange lines that significantly delayed commutes. At one point, my train sat in a tunnel as it waited on two trains ahead of it to service a platform.
At least it isn't as hot outside anymore. Walking is starting to look better and better.
This week's problems could have been worse. The Post's Lena H. Sun reports this morning that the train that derailed Monday "traveled for more than a half-mile without realizing anything was wrong before being alerted by another Metro employee, a veteran supervisor who happened to be riding the train," according to Metro General Manager John Catoe. If it wasn't for that supervisor's quick thinking, spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein told Sun, "clearly there would have been more damage to the track bed area."
There were no injuries in Monday's incident. Catoe told The Post he thinks he knows what caused the derailment, but wouldn't elaborate. He said a Metro investigation is ongoing and said he had no reason to believe operator error was the cause.
How has your week on Metro been? Sound off in the comments section below.
» "Metro Says Operator Wasn't First to Detect Derailment" [WaPo]
THERE WAS A TIME — say, around 6:45 p.m. or so last night — when I thought I might never leave the Rosslyn Metrorail station.
I thought I had found a clever way to avoid dealing with the aftermath of the Metro derailment that snarled traffic on the Orange Line for the evening. After my workday came to an end, instead of using the Court House station as I typically do, I hoofed it to the Rosslyn station to catch the Blue Line. Problem solved, right?
Wrong. Although plenty of fellow Orange Liners seemed to have the same idea — the sidewalks on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington were more crowded than usual — I realized when I made it down into the belly of Rosslyn that single-tracking on the Orange Line meant that Vienna-bound trains were using the upper level of the station instead of the lower level as usual. Which meant that my bullet Blue Line train had to cool its heels — in record heat, of course — at Arlington Cemetery while discombobulated Orange Line trains cycled through the station.
I was bored. So like any nerdy reporter, I whipped out my notebook. Here's how the trip went down:
» 6:15 p.m.: Left the office.
» 6:37 p.m.: Made it to Rosslyn's upper platform a sweaty mess. The place is packed, but nowhere near as crowded as the lower platform.
» 6:42 p.m.: The first train arrives: An Orange Liner bound for Vienna. It's not terribly crowded.
» 6:44 p.m.: A Blue Line train to Franconia-Springfield chugs up to the lower platform. It's a mob scene, with passengers packing through every open door.
Continue Reading "Derailment Makes for a Hot, Slow Ride on Metro" »
THE SCENE ABOVEGROUND at the Court House Metrorail station appeared calm, but underground, Metro officials and Arlington County emergency crews were working to free 200 passengers trapped on a derailed train lodged in a tunnel.
Videographer Michael McPhate of washingtonpost.com took the video above from the scene at about 4:45 p.m. The video was edited by Francine Uenuma.
» GET MORE on the derailment from our earlier post here.
WANT TO HOP the Yellow Line to Potomac Yard? You can't right now, of course, but officials in Alexandria are in the early stages of considering whether to add a Metrorail station near the $2.6 billion office, retail and residential complex taking shape there, The Post's Lena H. Sun reports.
Don't expect a new station any time soon, though, Sun reports:
City officials say it will be several more years before they decide whether they can come up with the estimated $150 million required for constructing a station. ...Last week Metro and city officials met to discuss cost and feasibility of building a station.
"We think this will be a great addition to the system," Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. said today at a regional transportation forum.
If approved, the new station, which would sit between the National Airport and Braddock Road stops, would be the second "in-fill" station — a stop built in the middle of an existing line — added to the system. The first was the New York Avenue station, which was opened on the Red Line in 2004.
» "Alexandria to Consider Adding Yellow Line Metro Stop" [WaPo]
This normal-sized train has nothing on its elongated counterpart. Photo by Andrea Bruce/The Washington Post
POP QUIZ: What's the maximum number of cars a Metrorail train can span?
Six? Nah, bigger.
Eight? Sure, if you're the kind of boringly practical thinker who's hemmed in by spacial relations, since eight is the maximum number of cars that can service a station platform. But this is America, hoss. Super-size it.
Twelve. Or at least that's how many cars Train 409 stretched when it chugged along the Blue Line on Sunday morning. According to The Post's Lena H. Sun, 409 giddy-upped from Largo all the way to Eastern Market before Metro employees noticed:
A preliminary investigation suggests that the mix-up occurred as the train was preparing to leave the Largo rail yard at 7:27 a.m. to begin its run to Franconia-Springfield. Metro officials think the regular six-car train might have rolled backward on an incline and hooked up with a six-car train behind it, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel.Since only eight cars could serve the platform, of course, those last four cars' doors likely opened into the yawning darkness of a Metro tunnel.
No injuries were reported, but the train operator is on administrative leave pending an investigation.
» "12 Cars Make Way Too Much Train" [WaPo]
Addison Road