# 29 hour WMATA shutdown



## Ryan (Mar 15, 2016)

I'm on travel and down in the shipyards, so I'm somewhat disconnected, but I just got a work email saying that WMATA was going to undertake a systemwide shutdown from midnight tonight until the normal 0500 system opening time on Thursday (i.e. No service Wednesday).

This is a result of yet another fire before system opening Monday, that seems to have the same root cause as the deadly Yellow Line fire last year. They are going to inspect systemwide to see if there were any other locations with problems.

Near as I can tell, this has never happened - looks like the new GM really means business, and may actually have the rudder over to get this dumpster fire of a transit organization back on track (both puns fully intended).


----------



## sitzplatz17 (Mar 15, 2016)

Just got the news at work as well. A radical move from Mr. Wiedefeld but perhaps a prudent one.


----------



## CHamilton (Mar 15, 2016)

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/metro-shutdown--372144902.html


----------



## fairviewroad (Mar 15, 2016)

And the Twittersphere has already created a revised Metro system map for tomorrow:

https://twitter.com/DaveStroup/status/709836318747058176


----------



## Ryan (Mar 15, 2016)

That's hilarious.


----------



## lo2e (Mar 15, 2016)

Twitter for the win!


----------



## Ryan (Mar 15, 2016)

MARC is pitching in. Bike car during the weekday!!!!

"The MARC Train Service will operate a regular weekday schedule on Wednesday, March 16. MARC has been working since Washington Metro announced the closure of their system to add additional cars to trains. However, given the short notice and lack of extra equipment, the following trains will be the only trains that operate with extra cars:

--Brunswick Line morning: Train 870 (4:50am departure from Brunswick), Train 876 (6:40am departure from Brunswick) and Train 880 (7:45am departure from Brunswick)

--Brunswick Line evening: Train 877 (4:55pm departure from Union Statoin) and Train 883 (7:25pm departure from Union Station)

--Camden Line morning: Train 849 (7:10am departure from Camden Yards)

--Camden Line evening: Train 856 (5:53pm departure from Union Station)

MARC is not able to add capacity to most Penn Line trains. However, the following trains will operate with a MARC Bike Car from the weekend service. Passengers may bring full-size, non-collapsible bicycles on these trains ONLY. Spaces for bicycles are on a first-come, first-served basis. The Bike Car will be located directly behind the locomotive and the Quiet Commute car will be the second car on the train:

--Penn Line morning: Train 511 (5:40am departure from Perryville/6:25am departure from Penn Station), Train 413 (6:45am departure from Penn Station).

--Penn Line evening: Train 634 (4:40pm departure from Union Station), Train 642 (5:50pm departure from Union Station).

Passengers are reminded of the following:

--The entire Washington Metrorail system will be closed on Wednesday

--There is no substitute shuttle bus service for the closed Metrorail system

--Washington Metrobus will add very limited capacity to the heaviest bus routes

--The DC Circulator (www.dccirculator.com) is working to increase capacity on their three routes serving Union Station

--A decision about the status of Washington Metrorail service on Thursday will be made on Wednesday; updates will be provided and posted here as they become available.

Passengers should monitor the Washington Metro website (www.wmata.com) for the latest information on the Metrorail system closure.

Thank you for riding the MARC Train Service."


----------



## Ryan (Mar 15, 2016)

Capital Bikeshare offering free 24 hour memberships:

http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/news/2016/03/15/capital-bikeshare-to-offer-corral-service-march-16-for-metrorail-closure

(Regular usage fees apply, rides less than 30 min are free)


----------



## Acela150 (Mar 15, 2016)

I'm glad to see different agencies chipping in and try to help in this situation. From MARC to the bikeshare program and then some.


----------



## Eric S (Mar 15, 2016)

As an outside observer, it's been amazing to see how the Washington Metrorail has (seemingly at least) fallen so far, so fast.


----------



## Ryan (Mar 15, 2016)

I'm not so sure about fast, it's been a smoldering dumpster fire for a while now.


----------



## fairviewroad (Mar 16, 2016)

And the gracious folks at Uber are contributing to the cause by capping their surge prices at just 3.9X the normal rates!


----------



## Metra Electric Rider (Mar 16, 2016)

I don't understand why this wasn't done by line rather than the entire system, unless the risk really was *that great*?


----------



## Bob Dylan (Mar 16, 2016)

Metra Electric Rider said:


> I don't understand why this wasn't done by line rather than the entire system, unless the risk really was *that great*?


At WMATA the answer is Yes! Safety is NOT Job #1!!!!


----------



## Acela150 (Mar 16, 2016)

Metra Electric Rider said:


> I don't understand why this wasn't done by line rather than the entire system, unless the risk really was *that great*?


Yes it was. One of these fires was deadly last year and this is the second one. In the name of customer safety and employee safety they have my full support in this case.


----------



## Ryan (Mar 16, 2016)

Bob Dylan said:


> Metra Electric Rider said:
> 
> 
> > I don't understand why this wasn't done by line rather than the entire system, unless the risk really was *that great*?
> ...


Actually, this shows that the new sheriff in town may actually be changing that.


----------



## KmH (Mar 16, 2016)

Do they have enough money to properly maintain the infrastructure?


----------



## Acela150 (Mar 16, 2016)

This is America. We don't care about infrastructure.


----------



## KmH (Mar 17, 2016)

Until the local metro gets shut down for 29 hours because it keeps catching fire?


----------



## DCAKen (Mar 17, 2016)

Acela150 said:


> This is America. We don't care about infrastructure.


Washington Post: We caused the Metro shutdown when we decided to let our cities decay


----------



## CHamilton (Mar 17, 2016)

This four-month-old article got posted this morning on Facebook.

http://www.washingtonian.com/2015/12/09/why-does-metro-suck-dangerous-accidents-escalator-outages/

I have no idea how accurate it is, but I'm quite surprised that it didn't get more notice when it was published. Ryan and the other DC folks, I'm on the other side of the country. Did I miss a discussion on these issues back in December?


----------



## Bob Dylan (Mar 17, 2016)

Republican Congress to American Cities and States:

"Let them eat Cake!"


----------



## Acela150 (Mar 17, 2016)

KmH said:


> Until the local metro gets shut down for 29 hours because it keeps catching fire?


Just wait till the Hudson River tunnels can't handle trains anymore. The morons in DC were warned and haven't done anything about it.
Welcome to America. Where the important things don't matter until it's way to late.


----------



## jis (Mar 17, 2016)

And the bright guys in NY and NJ are not necessarily far behind them either.


----------



## Ryan (Mar 17, 2016)

CHamilton said:


> This four-month-old article got posted this morning on Facebook.
> 
> http://www.washingtonian.com/2015/12/09/why-does-metro-suck-dangerous-accidents-escalator-outages/
> 
> I have no idea how accurate it is, but I'm quite surprised that it didn't get more notice when it was published. Ryan and the other DC folks, I'm on the other side of the country. Did I miss a discussion on these issues back in December?


No, this was the first I've read it.

From what I know, it's accurate and the new stuff doesn't surprise me. Sounds like Weidifeld has the best shot at breaking the toxic culture.


----------

