Metro Delays: Some Recent Greatest Hits

We mine the Metro disruption reports periodically to tally up each week's damage. It ain't pretty.

Sometimes, we're not as assiduous as we'd like to be, so we have to plow through a bunch to try to catch up. Still not there.

Metro is not always overly specific about the reasons for delays, but every once in a while there's something beyond your average mechanical foul up or door problem. We think these are major clues into how Metro operates.

Here are some gems from recent trolling:

August 11
5:46 a.m. An Orange Line train leaving Landover in the direction of Vienna was delayed because of a mechanical problem. The following train was taken out of service and used to pull the disabled train back to the platform, where customers were required to exit the train. Trains shared the opposite track around the disabled train until it could be moved. Additional trains were put into service from Stadium-Armory and Federal Center SW.
12:42 p.m. A Red Line train at Twinbrook in the direction of Shady Grove was delayed 10 minutes because of a routine train operator switch that did not go as planned. The train operator exited the train before the relief train operator arrived. The station manager held the train until the relief train operator arrived.
August 12
6:18 a.m. A Green Line train at Greenbelt was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.
6:30 a.m. A Green Line train at Greenbelt was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.
6:43 a.m. A Blue Line train at Alexandria rail yard was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.
6:55 a.m. A Blue Line train at Alexandria rail yard was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.

August 14
3:36 p.m. A Blue Line train at Largo Town Center was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.
3:49 p.m. An Orange Line train at West Falls Church was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.
4 p.m. A Blue Line train at Largo Town Center was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.
4:03 p.m. A Red Line train at Glenmont was not put into service because no train was available at the scheduled time.

August 17
6:05 p.m. A Red Line train leaving Shady Grove was delayed by a mechanical problem. A following train was used to push the disabled train back to the platform, where customers were required to exit the train. Trains shared one track between Shady Grove and Twinbrook while the disabled train was being moved.

August 18
4 p.m. A Blue Line train at Largo Town Center was not put into service because no train was available.
4:18 p.m. A Blue Line train at Largo Town Center was not put into service because no train was available.
4:21 p.m. A Blue Line train at Franconia-Springfield was not put into service because of a mechanical problem.

August 19
8:39 a.m. An Orange Line train at Farragut West in the direction of Vienna was delayed because of a mechanical problem. A following train was taken out of service and used to push the disabled train to the rail yard. Trains shared one track between McPherson Square and Foggy Bottom-GWU until the disabled train could be moved.
11:03 p.m. An Orange Line train at East Falls Church in the direction of New Carrollton was taken out of service because of a mechanical problem, and customers were required to exit the train. A following train was taken out of service and used to push the disabled train to the rail yard.

August 25
8:39 a.m. An Orange Line train approaching Potomac Ave in the direction of New Carrollton was delayed because of a mechanical problem. A following train was taken out of service and used to push the disabled train to the rail yard. Trains shared the opposite track around the disabled train until it could be moved.

Who's running this show? LOLcats?

Other items:
Bus driver who hit jogger has long poor driving rap sheet (WaPo)
Our take on WMATA's "culture of safety"
Crime up at Mont. Co. Metro stations (Examiner)