Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Three stations will be closed along the Green Line in Prince George's County the weekend of May 17-19, according to WMATA.
If you were hoping to avoid some of the traffic along Route 1 this weekend, when thousands of University of Maryland students and their families will be on campus for commencement, take note that three Metro stations will be closed along the Green Line. According to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, College Park metro station will be closed this weekend along with the Greenbelt and Prince George's Plaza stations while crews perform track upgrades—"including tie and insulator renewal, interlocking maintenance and work associated with construction of a new test track for 7000-series railcars." The stations will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday and will reopen Monday morning. However, if you must use metro to …
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Metrorail to go to OT if Caps do.
Metrorail, which has a station near Verizon Center (Gallery Place/Chinatown), will stay open an hour later if any Washington Capitals hockey playoff games run late or go into overtime, according to The Washington Post. The Capitals open their quest for the Stanley Cup against the New York Rangers on at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Last year, Game 3 of the Capitals’ playoff series against the Rangers went to triple overtime, ending well after midnight—when Metro typically closes on weekdays. The Post reports that an announcement will be made inside the Verizon Center by 11 p.m. Metro riders will be able to exit the transit system at any station, but will only be able to enter at Gallery Place (all entrances), Judiciary Square (only on F Street) and …
Friday, March 22, 2013
Weekend track work on Metrorail will take a break for four consecutive weekends.
Metro takes a break from its rigorous weekend track work schedule during the cherry blossom season, according to Metro's website. This year, the break takes place on four consecutive weekends: March 23 to 24, March 30 to 31, Apr. 6 and 7, and Apr. 13 and 14. "The only planned weekend work during that time will take place late Sunday evenings, when ridership is light," Metro reported. "While the work we do almost every weekend is necessary to get the system back to a steady state of safety and reliability, we are in a position where we can take a short break to let everyone enjoy the season," Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles said. "The spring break will give people an opportunity to experience the type of system we are working…
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Plan your commute carefully on Jan. 21.
While fewer people are expected to attend President Obama's second inauguration on Jan. 21, projections still show between 600,000 and 800,000 people will be there. That alone would cause an increase in traffic on Washington, DC's roads, buses, trains and sidewalks. For safety and security reasons, a number of roads surrounding the National Mall will be closed on Jan. 21. Some Metrorail stations and Metrobus routes will be affected as well. The District of Columbia's Presidential Inauguration 2013 website details the status of road access into Washington, DC, on Inauguration Day: The following roads will be closed from 3 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 21: The website also lists all of the "emergency no parking zones" in effect between 7 a.…
Friday, January 4, 2013
Recent deaths on New York City subways may demonstrate need for plan.
Two high profile incidents involving deaths in the New York City subway system may provide an opportunity for exploring plans for dealing with emergencies while navigating underground transit. What would you do if you encountered an emergency situation while riding Metro? A recent article in The Washington Post illustrates that many riders tune out the assistance information messages broadcast on the trains: If you are in urgent need of police assistance while riding the Metro system, please call Metro Transit Police at 202-962-2121. “I hear it so often I don’t pay attention anymore,” said one woman interviewed for the story. Between the Transit Police phone number, 911 and on-site Metro and police personnel, riders have at least three …
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Trains will single track it between Greenbelt and College Park on the Green Line.
Metro anticipates delays for some riders on the Green, Red and Orange Lines this weekend while it performs work, which will begin at 10 p.m. Friday and continue through closing on Sunday. Green Line trains will single track between Greenbelt and College Park, with every other train terminating at College Park instead of Greenbelt. Metro says riders traveling to or from Greenbelt Station should allow 10 additional minutes of travel time. Buses are slated to replace trains on the Red Line between Fort Totten and Forest Glen. Silver Spring and Takoma stations will be closed. Metro says riders traveling through the work zone should budget for an additional 30 minutes of travel time. Trains will single track between Stadium-Armory and …
Saturday, July 7, 2012
WMATA says the extreme heat caused a kink in the rail line sending three rail cars off the track near West Hyattsville.
Friday, July 6, 2012
A Metro train has derailed in West Hyattsville, WMATA reports, but there were no injuries.
Update, 8 p.m.: It took rescuers nearly an hour to safely remove all of the passengers on a Metro train that derailed Friday afternoon near the West Hyattsville Metro station. The train was traveling toward DC after departing from Prince George's Plaza Metro Station, when the last three cars derailed, leaving 55 passengers in harms way around 4:45 p.m. A total of 95 fire and rescue crew members responded to the accident, Prince George's Fire Chief Marc Bashoor said, with the first responders arriving within five minutes of it being reported. Two dozen firefighters entered the tunnel to execute the rescue, Bashoor added. It took 10 minutes for the firefighters to reach the train, which had come to rest in the tunnel running underneath Ager …
Monday, July 2, 2012
Nearly 70 traffic lights remain dark or in flashing mode, while Metro must detour around downed power lines.
With hundreds of traffic signals still out and downed tree limbs blocking Metro routes, Monday's commute is shaping up to be especially bad as the Washington, DC region struggled to recover from Friday's powerful storms. The Maryland State Highway Administration is urging commuters to take public transportation as they head into work Monday, while Metro warned of rail and bus delays. According Prince George's County officials, a dozen traffic lights are non-operational on county roads, while 54 lights remain dark on roads managed by the SHA. (A list of intersections can be found at the bottom of this post.) SHA is warning commuters who need to drive to leave early and expect delays. “This is a very serious situation and drivers need to be …
Monday, March 19, 2012
Horace McDade of Bowie is one of two former Metro employees who faces up to 30 years in prison and fines for the thefts.
Pachacutec
2:31 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
OK, Metro has to do their work, but really - who at Metro figured that closing the College Park station on the same weekend that commencement activities were due to take place was a good idea? I mean, it's not like this doesn't happen every year around the same time, right? Nobody at Metro - nobody? - said "hey, maybe we should check on this" before scheduling the work? Unbelievable. Or maybe … more ›