Unsuck DC Metro: Kidding!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Kidding!

Via @Jazzyfeldzle @unsuckdcmetro never a dull moment aboard @metroopensdoors #dc http://plixi.com/p/72441727

Turns out it was just smoke:

@metroopensdoors Further investigation found there was no fire onboard the train; smoke onboard was caused by a brake malfunction.

and:

@metroopensdoors As of 4:05 p.m. the Forest Glen and Wheaton Metrorail stations have reopened and normal service has resumed on the Red Line.

Comments (13)

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LOve · 739 weeks ago

Gotta love the 'Tro

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Metro Stinks · 739 weeks ago

How is this different than everyday Metro Stink?

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

Ugh · 739 weeks ago

It's not. Some douchebag just reported it.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Anon 2.0 · 739 weeks ago

And by normal, do they mean a 85 commute from Metro Center to Silver Spring?

+2 Vote up Vote down

F'n JD · 739 weeks ago

Thanks for the accuracy Metro!

+2 Vote up Vote down

GlenmontGirl · 739 weeks ago

I just wish they would have made an announcement or something...

I got on a Silver Spring Red Line train at Metro Center at about 4:30 and they were still saying the stations were closed and trains were turning back at Silver Spring. I called my ride and asked them to come get me at Silver Spring instead of Glenmont, to avoid the shuttle bus situation.

At Silver Spring, the train driver announced, "This is Silver Spring. Red Line train to Glenmont." I got off, because my ride was already in Silver Spring at this point, and the train proceeded to head off to Glenmont.

Not once did I ever hear or see anything to indicate that Forest Glen and Wheaton had re-opened.

But as Metro Stink pointed out above, that really isn't different from the daily Metro experience.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Sam · 739 weeks ago

That's a big issue in my opinion. They make the announcements in the stations only. Yesterday, I heard about 5 announcements about this while I was waiting for my train and while I was exiting my destination station. But what about all the people on trains? They need to broadcast important station information (like elevator outages or closed stations) on the trains so people can make alternate plans, like calling a cab or getting off at a different station.

Say there is a handicapped person riding from Gallery Place to Rosslyn. They decide to take the yellow line to Pentagon and switch to blue. The person gets on a train and the station announcement later says that the platform elevators at Pentagon are out and shuttle service is available from L'Enfant Plaza. Now, the handicapped person gets off at Pentagon and can't get up to the upper level to switch to blue. They now have to ride back to L'Enfant, where they just passed, and get a shuttle back to Pentagon (or choose to take blue all the way around).

They used to make elevator announcements at the stations providing shuttle service but for some reason, they don't do that anymore.

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Joolz · 739 weeks ago

I was going to suggest that they confirm reports of fire before announcing them like this, but then I realized that that would require multiple committees with representatives from DC, MD, and VA, along with newly appointed investigators, disaster experts, a revamped PR staff, signage experts, crowd control consultants, and a legal team, at a cost of at least $10M, so never mind.

+2 Vote up Vote down

bet · 739 weeks ago

Seems a great number of trains have braking problems which causes the pad to smoke. But I thought that the fire extinguishers are used to put out a flame and the station blowers are then cut on. What's the deal?

This eliminates any emergency call for the fire department.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Sam · 739 weeks ago

Unless a rider calls the fire department and starts saying "My train is on fire!" It's not just Metro, sometimes riders overreact and think they are going to die a horrible, fiery death when they see a little smoke.

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@kara_h · 739 weeks ago

Viewing one of the PIDs at a distance it looked like 'due to an abandoned train at Forest Glen'. Obviously that was wrong, but the interesting thing is my brain would construct that sentence as something normal to see. :)

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@DC_Chickie · 739 weeks ago

If the trains were turning around at Silver Spring, why did I still have to wait 10 minutes for a train? Then I got shoved on a train which I didn't mind because hey--I got on didn't I?

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Jeanie · 739 weeks ago

Because of the current events in Russia and the Philippines, DHS ordered the station(s) closed until a full investigation was made into the larger-than-usual track fire. It was a quick, unusually large trash fire that scared the operator and front-end passengers, filling the car(s) with acrid smoke.

METRO, however, wanted to continue single-tracking before there was any confirmation of what caused the mini-explosion.

Noice.