Credit: R. Pace/SSP
UPDATE — Metro rail riders can expect the Red Line to run on a single track starting at 10:00 p.m. every night in August so that crews can replace gear around the Jun 22 crash site, WMATA announced Friday.
Expect the usual delays between the Brookland-CUA and Takoma stations while crews replace circuit components like cables, impedance bonds, modules and junction boxes, a WMATA press release read.
Additionally, track work will wipe out Red Line service to Fort Totten on the weekends of Aug 14 to 16, and Aug 21 to 23. Anyone traveling to (or through) that station must catch the free shuttle bus at either Takoma or Brookland, the press release stated.
The big fix is a result of damage done during June’s crash, in which one Red Line train smacked into another between Takoma and Fort Totten stations. Nine people were killed in that crash, and Red Line service has been one hurky-jerky mess ever since.
While no one knows for sure what caused the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board thinks it may have been Metro’s automated control system, its failure to detect the stopped train near Fort Totten, and its failure to stop the train leaving Takoma, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Keyword: failure.
The Post also said an incident in March, in which a Metro train overshot the platform at the Potomac Avenue station, smelled like a crapped-out control system. However, the problem in that case was with the train car’s inability to detect the control system, not the control system itself, Metro chief safety officer Alexa Dupigny-Samuels shot back at The Post.
Control-center supervisors “knew immediately that something was wrong, and they treated the incident seriously, which is why the train’s riders were off-loaded and the train taken out of service immediately for a follow-up investigation,” Dupigny-Samuels said in a press statement.
Unrelated to anything on the Red Line, a track worker was killed Sunday night near the Vienna station in Virginia. The 25-year WMATA veteran was replacing cross-ties along the tracks when a piece of heavy machinery struck and killed him, The Post reported Monday morning.
WMATA, NTSB and the Tri-State Oversight Committee are on the case, WMATA said in a press statement.
UPDATE: Red Line service will be single-tracked on weeknights, not discontinued as previously stated. — JD (Aug 10, 2009)
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“Glenmont-bound trains will grind to a halt at the Brookland-CUA station, while Shady Grove-bound trains will stop at the Takoma station.”
Maybe my reading comprehension skills are failing me, but this sentence implies that the Red Line will stop service altogether after 10:00pm during August, but the press release indicates that they will be single-tracking between Takoma and Fort Totten after that time, in addition to the two weekend closures of the Fort Totten station.
Editor’s note: Holy shit, you’re absolutely right! Will fix, and the check is still in the mail. — JD (Aug 10, 2009)
Will weekend distruptions at or near the Ft. Totten and Takoma stations continue into September? As in the weekend of the Silver Spring Jazz Festival?
Metro needs to be safe for everyone, workers and riders alike. But the rest of us need to plan for these big delays.
It’s been over a month and a half since the accident and riding the red line continues to be a nightmare and it appears that there is no relief in sight. Why is it taking so long to correct the problem?
Metro seems confused about their own service, to be honest. I went to take the train in yesterday, and the sign at the station said the train would be stopping at Ft. Totten. I was annoyed, but figured I would take the green line in. The announcement on the speaker said it would be stopping at Takoma and there would would shuttle buses to take people to Ft Totten and Brookland. I gave up trying to figure out their ineptitude and decided just to leave and forget the whole thing. I was still charged $1.35 (for entering the station, getting fed up with not knowing where the trains were going, and then leaving without getting on a train). I am still mad about the whole thing.
From WMATA 8/20 release:”This weekend, there will be no Red Line trains serving the Fort Totten Metrorail station. Due to track circuit repairs, Red Line trains will operate between the Shady Grove and Brookland-CUA Metrorail stations and between the Glenmont and Takoma Metrorail stations from 9:30 p.m. Friday, August 21, to closing (midnight) on Sunday, August 23. Free shuttle buses will take Red Line riders between the Brookland-CUA, Fort Totten and Takoma Metrorail stations or free non-stop shuttle buses will run from Takoma to Union Station on Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Riders also may want to consider using Metrobus to avoid the delays. Metrobus service from Silver Spring includes routes S2 and S4 to Federal Triangle or route 70 to Archives/Navy Memorial. Metrobus service from Fort Totten includes route 80 to Metro Center and route 64 to Federal Triangle. Metrobus service from Brookland includes the route 80 or G8 to Metro Center. Metrobus service from Takoma includes the route 52 or 54 to L’Enfant Plaza or the route 62 to Metro Center.”
Editor’s note: Thanks for the update, LMH! — JD (Aug 21, 2009)