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
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" »
REMEMBER THAT BIG PROJECT to fix a sagging platform at the busy Metro Center station? It's ramping up again this President's Day weekend, which means riders should prepare for half-hour delays on the Red, Blue and Orange lines, the transit agency says.
The rehabilitation work, which Metro says is aimed to stabilize the platform that carries Red Line trains over the area that serves the Blue and Orange lines inside the Metro Center station, will begin at 10 p.m. on Friday and last until midnight on Monday. Crews will be making structural concrete repairs as well as replacing bearing pads that help support the bridge, among other things.
Here's how the construction will affect riders:
RED LINE:
» During the day, Red Line trains will start their journeys from Glenmont and Shady Grove every nine minutes. Trains will share a track between Farragut North and Judiciary Square, operating through that area every 18 minutes. Two trains traveling one direction, spaced two minutes apart, will move through the work zone, then two trains will be allowed to travel in the opposite direction.
» After 10 p.m. on Friday and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Red Line trains will leave the terminal stations 20 minutes apart.
Continue Reading "Get Ready for Delays: Metro Center Work to Resume" »
WHILE THE IDEA to re-route some rush-hour Blue Line trains between the Franconia-Springfield station and the District via the Yellow Line has been stewing in recent years, Metro officials will formally propose such a service pattern at this week's board meeting.
The goal of the re-routing?
To relieve the bottleneck at Rosslyn, where trains on the packed Orange Line merge with those on the Blue Line before heading into their shared tunnel into the District.
As The Post's Get There blog reports today:
While the transit authority staff points out in a report to the board that ridership is growing more quickly at the stations on the eastern side of downtown, this proposal is almost certain to be controversial among riders. The concept has been discussed before as a way of creating more room in the Rosslyn tunnel. It factors into planning for the Metrorail line to Dulles, which would send even more trains through the tunnel.Don't expect the proposal to go into effect in the immediate future. Although the plan will be presented to Metro's Customer Services, Operations and Safety Committee, there won't be a formal board recommendation until June.
» "Blue Line Diversion Proposed" [Get There/WaPo]
» EARLIER: "An Inevitable Metro Marriage: Blue and Yellow?" [Free Ride/Express]
Image courtesy WMATA
IF YOU STAND ON the Red Line's Shady Grove-bound platform at the busy Metro Center station, you'll notice a section of the platform that's slightly depressed and marked off with striped warning tape. The area in question sits at a point where the Red Line track and platform cross over the Blue and Orange lines on the lower level — and it's a bridge that's slowly sagging.
There's no immediate cause for alarm, Metro says, but this weekend, the transit agency will start $1.3 million worth of structural improvements to correct the problem. And as The Post's Get There blog reports, the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend will be a slow go for many Metrorail riders starting Friday at 10 p.m.
Trains on the Red Line will share the same track between the Farragut North and Judiciary Square stations, while trains on the Blue and Orange lines will share a track between the Smithsonian and Farragut West stations. Trains will run through the work zone every 18 minutes, and chances are, you'll wait at least six minutes for trains coming in the opposite direction to clear the Metro Center work zone. Overall, there will be fewer trains in service on the Red, Blue and Orange lines, so expect delays and crowded trains.
Continue Reading "Metro Center Work to Cause Big Weekend Delays" »
METRORAIL track maintenance and a special safety training exercise are scheduled for the following areas this weekend:
» YELLOW LINE: Due to a safety and emergency response exercise on the Yellow Line's Potomac River bridge, trains will not run between Fort Totten in the District and the King Street station in Alexandria via L'Enfant Plaza, from opening to noon on Saturday. In the District, use the Green Line. For access between Alexandria and the District, use the Blue Line via Rosslyn.
Yellow Line trains will share the same track between the King Street station and Huntington terminal because of maintenance on a switch at Huntington starting at 10 o'clock this evening through closing Sunday. Following Saturday's safety exercise, Yellow Line trains from the District will service the Blue Line's Franconia-Springfield terminal instead of Huntington.
» ORANGE LINE: Trains will share the same track between the New Carrollton and Cheverly stations on Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Every other outbound train will terminate at Cheverly before returning to the District and Virginia.
» GREEN LINE: Because of cable work between the Prince George's Plaza and College Park-U of Md. stations, trains will share the same track through that section of the Green Line tonight and Saturday from midnight to closing.
Regularly scheduled testing of new rail cars will force Green Line trains to share the same track in and out of the Greenbelt terminal on Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Expect minor delays.
» "Weekend Track Work to Affect Metro's Yellow, Orange and Green Lines" [WMATA]
SCHEDULED METRORAIL TRACK WORK will affect the following lines this weekend ...
» RED LINE: Trains will share the same track between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations, Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Add 20 minutes of travel time through that section of track.
» ORANGE LINE: Trains will share the same track between the New Carrollton and Cheverly stations 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on Saturday. Add 30 minutes of travel time through that section of track. Alternating outbound trains from the District will terminate at Cheverly and return to Vienna-Fairfax via downtown.
» GREEN LINE: Trains will share the same track between the Congress Heights and Branch Avenue stations starting midnight to closing, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Add 15 minutes of extra travel time on the southern end of the Green Line.
Also, regularly scheduled testing of new rail cars will force Green Line trains to share the same track in and out of the Greenbelt station, Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
METRO WILL CLOSE the Cheverly, Landover and New Carrollton Metrorail stations in Maryland over the upcoming holiday weekend for "a major track rehabilitation project," the transit agency announced today.
From a Metro statement:
Metro will replace the rail switch outside the Cheverly Metrorail station on the Orange Line from 10 p.m., Friday, August 31 to 11:59 p.m., Monday, September 3 (Labor Day). A rail switch or "interlocking" is an intersection in the track, where trains "switch" from one track to another. This work must be done to ensure service quality and safe operation through the Cheverly Metrorail station.Shuttle buses will run every eight to 10 minutes from the Deanwood station, where the Orange Line will terminate, to New Carrollton, with stops at Cheverly and Landover, Metro says.
Metro service will run on its regular weekend schedule on Saturday and Sunday, and on a Sunday schedule for Monday's Labor Day holiday.
» "Cheverly, Landover and New Carrollton Metro Stations to Close This Weekend for Track Work" [WMATA]
HOPEFULLY, MORNING COMMUTES on Metrorail ran pretty normally, because after Sunday night's massive disruptions on all five lines, Metro could probably use a breather.
It all started at 5:30 p.m. when there was a report of smoke at the Mount Vernon Square-7th St.-Convention Center station. Following that were four separate incidents involving smoke or fire that ushered in "a series of disruptions that appeared to be without precedent in the system's 30-year history," The Post's Martin Weil and Elissa Silverman report.
Fortunately, these events didn't take place during a weekday rush hour. But try telling that to anyone who was caught in yesterday's misery.
» "Outbreaks of Fire, Smoke Shut Down Metro Stations" [WaPo]
» "Smoke and Fire Incidents Impact Metrorail Service on Sunday" [WMATA]
METRO IS WARNING of possible delays on the Orange and Red lines this weekend, in addition to regular rail car testing on the Green Line. Here are the affected areas.
» ORANGE LINE: Due to track maintenance between the West Falls Church station and the Vienna terminal in Fairfax County, trains will share the same track starting 10 p.m. Friday. Alternating outbound Orange Line trains to Vienna will terminate at West Falls Church and return to New Carrollton via downtown Washington. Those traveling between West Falls Church and Vienna could experience delays of 30 minutes. The work is scheduled to last through the end of Sunday.
» RED LINE: On Saturday, trains will share the same track between the Judiciary Square and Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood stations between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. That could spawn delays of 15 minutes.
On Sunday, trains will share the same track between the Grosvenor-Strathmore and Medical Center stations, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Expect 15 minute delays.
» GREEN LINE: As part of ongoing new rail car testing, Green Line trains will share the same track in and out of the Greenbelt terminal on Saturday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Expect 10 to 15 minute delays.
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