Unsuck DC Metro: April Fools' Arrives Early on Metro

Friday, April 1, 2011

April Fools' Arrives Early on Metro

Via @jameslosey What's wrong with this picture? @wmata metro #fail http://t.co/f2zWKhF

Metro was uncharacteristically ahead of schedule--this time for April Fools'.

On March 30, one operator gave lunchtime riders a scary view of the third rail at Farragut North when they opened the wrong side doors.

Don't lean on those doors since you never know where you might get offloaded.

Safety is the top priority indeed.

Other items:
Metro's budget woes continue (Examiner)
Metro mulls new downtown stops (WaPo)
Rider discovers farebox flaw (Examiner)
NBC4 on Metro groper's arrest

Comments (29)

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@marilynluvher88 · 734 weeks ago

SMH...WOW, God forbid if someone was leaning on the doors...i pray that with the now - summer serious ridership and train overcrowding that this doesn't happen again. idk about you guys but i make sure to say double prayers before i get on any metro vehicle these days...

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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Matt G · 734 weeks ago

"Do Not Lean On the Doors" or else you may be dumped onto the tracks!
;-)

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John · 734 weeks ago

Don't worry, the driver has been fired and Jackie Jeter has been arrested.....

APRIL FOOLS!

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Corresponding Toads · 734 weeks ago

I have great reflexes - had I been on this train, leaning on the door when it opened, I would have done a backflip, planted my feet on the wall of the station, and jumped back into the car.

This really happened, in my brain.

3 replies · active less than 1 minute ago

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Y T Karashinski · 734 weeks ago

yeah sure, toads can flip.

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Neo · 734 weeks ago

Impressive! I think I may have an opening on my team for such acrobatics...

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Corresponding Toads · 734 weeks ago

you can keep your red pills, Neo. I am DRUG FREE!!

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perkinsms 75p · 734 weeks ago

I don't get it. Every railcar should have a Right sensor and a Left sensor, and the stations should have a Right emitter and a Left emitter. Attempting to open the doors on the wrong side should not be allowed by the door motor controller unless the operator performs a manual override, which should not be the normal mode of operation.

At least, that's the way I'd design it.

5 replies · active 734 weeks ago

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John · 734 weeks ago

Knock it off with your logic....

+7 Vote up Vote down

Matt G · 734 weeks ago

That's because you believe in Slavery, Michael.

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HurricaneDC 76p · 734 weeks ago

I'm about 98% certain that automatic train operation does this, but that has been offline since the Red Line crash and won't be back until Metro installs all the NTSB upgrades.

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devaldragon 59p · 734 weeks ago

No - opening the doors is the one thing the drivers still have to do, even under automatic train control. There was an incident - way back on Oct 8, 1979 - where a Red Line operator stepped outside of his train at the Brentwood Yard and the train took off without him. The train ran as it should have, stopping at all stations between Brentwood and Metro Center without the doors opening. A passenger picked the lock on the control compartment and pressed the door open button. Otherwise, the train would have pulled into the pocket track at Dupont Circle, waiting for the absent driver to change ends.

From Donald Deiter's Book - "The Story of Metro" - written back in the good old days of Metro.

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HurricaneDC 76p · 733 weeks ago

That sounds almost comical, thanks for the info!

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Orange Line Rider · 734 weeks ago

Had a train door on the Orange Line this morning (at Balston around 7:50 or so) refuse to open or close. The driver repeatedly warned us that we needed to try to force shut any open doors so he wouldn't have to unload, yet oddly enough this one wasn't opening and THAT was causing the glitch. Eventually some short guy with a walkee-talkee came through the back of the car, went straight to the problem door, and locked it shut. The operator then proceeded to continue on to the next station.

This isn't the first time I've seen them use this creative method, and frankly I wonder why they don't use it more often. It would have been very annoying to start a Friday (April Fool's day no less) by being unloaded from Metro.

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Y T Karashinski · 734 weeks ago

Every train should have a New York City transit Subway Conductor -- that way this stupid metro CR*P will not happen.

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Guest · 734 weeks ago

Metro Opens Doors - on the wrong side of the train.

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horseydeucey · 734 weeks ago

Unfortunately, I think everyone who regularly keeps tabs on WMATA safety knows that someone will die because of shit like this.

Did I say will? I guess I have to take a refresher on how to properly conjugate the infinitive 'to be' for proper tense.

This isn't even funny anymore... hasn't been for some time now.

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April Fooled · 734 weeks ago

isnt every day april fools day on metro?

thanks to the lovely "unscheduled track maintenance" going on this morning on the red line, we were forced to wait several minutes at several stations. i was actually impressed with the way our driver kept us updated with information.
as we were sitting at metro center, he told us that we had "been cleared straight through to union station." hearing this, everyone who needed to disembark at gallery place or judiciary square groaned and got off the train. doors close, and we hear the driver announce, "next stop, gallery place."
happy april fools day. ugh.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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anon · 734 weeks ago

You mean the entire train thought he meant that the train was going to Union Station without making any stops along the way? Why would you assume that?

There have been times when they've skipped stops (intentionally), but when they do (in my experience) they've said over and over on the intercom something like, "this train will NOT stop at Cleveland Park or Woodley Park - Zoo /Adams Morgan"

So maybe it's just me, but hearing "cleared straight through to Union Station" I would assume that any delays between MC and US had been cleared.

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ErikD · 734 weeks ago

I had this same thing happen to me on the London Tube (Central line). Health and safety rushed to the scene in about 10 minutes to make sure no one was hurt. The operator was going car to car to make sure everyone was OK.

1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago

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HurricaneDC 76p · 734 weeks ago

Health and safety must believe in slavery.

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@VeggieTart · 734 weeks ago

The doors opening on the wrong side was a problem a few years ago--enough to be newsworthy--and I thought they fixed it. Obviously not. I'm just glad I've never seen it happen when I was riding.

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Ever and Anomaly · 734 weeks ago

Unrelated but had to post - Saw Unsuck on Channel 4 news again this morning, twice over, for the wierdo arrest. Way to go Unsuck, Allie and the Officer who reads this blog! And that's no April fools, folks. (But Google has a couple of good ones this year.)

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Moesha · 734 weeks ago

There was no "scary view of the third rail". It has a cover over it that you can actually stand on and not get electrocuted.

2 replies · active 734 weeks ago

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unsuckdcmetro 92p · 734 weeks ago

Then I guess there's no problem here.

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SoBa · 734 weeks ago

In the first picture, the grid is covering the lights, not the third rail, which is on the rail bed. You can see a Metro third rail with its cover in the first picture on this wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_rail. That white cover may be safe to stand on, Moesha, but I wouldn't chance it.

In stations with a center platform, opening the door on the wrong side is a problem, but at least you're up against the station wall and the light cover. A wrong-side open in a station with tracks in the center is really dangerous as you would fall several feet into the opposite rail bed where you could accidentally touch the third rail or get hit by an oncoming train.