Unsuck DC Metro: Passing the Suck

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Passing the Suck

Ever noticed how often there are train malfunctions to start off rush hours?

A very reliable Metro source shed some light as to why that happens.

Apparently, a rail yard like West Falls Church is expected to have and report a certain number of cars ready for revenue service each morning. With West Falls, it's 144 cars, the source said.

The source said that a lot of times, just before the trains are set to roll out for revenue, a train might call the tower and report, for example, a last-minute propulsion problem with one or more of the cars.

According to the source, the yard will--incredibly--OK that train to go out for revenue just so West Falls (or any of the other yards) can make its morning number to report to downtown.

"The tower will say 'call it in when you get to East Falls Church,'" the source said. "Once it goes on the mainline, it's not [the yard's] problem any more."

Then, the source said, "the sh*t goes down; that's why you get trains going down very first thing in the morning."

"Metro is a kingdom, and there are all these little fiefdoms. You all live under the king, but [your fiefdom] is your domain. You collect taxes. You rule that area. You don't come in my area. I don't come into yours. Nobody cares about the final result. It isn't about making sure everything runs the best it can. It's all about [making sure] the blame doesn't come back on you. There's no 'this is what we're trying to achieve.' They're trying to achieve something different from what the guys downtown are. This place is about screwing over someone else. Sarles and these guys are insulated from this."

Other items:
Dan Stessel comes across really well in this piece on sexual harassment (WUSA)
Dust at Court House "likely" or "probably" concrete dust
Metro is failing at social media (The Shortest Road)

Comments (16)

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+6 Vote up Vote down

@VeggieTart · 682 weeks ago

I wonder if this happens in evening rush hours as well. I was riding Metro yesterday afternoon (I needed to get from Rosslyn to U Street quickly) and decided to do the Farragut walking transfer (whatever they call it) because it's a lot less painful than transferring at Metro Center. Turns out that due to a disabled train at Union Station, the car I was on wasn't going anywhere. I waited for ten minutes, left the station, and caught a cab to my destination (something I only do in dire circumstances).

Can we please beat the people who designed the system without redundant tracks? And maybe the people who didn't want to fund a system to not have redundant tracks?

1 reply · active 682 weeks ago

+3 Vote up Vote down

tired of metro · 682 weeks ago

I see the lack of a service track as the biggest problem with metro, well, besides the employees that is.

Imagine a line with three tracks, one extra to run a train on for times when single-tracking would normally be in effect, or times when a down train is dogging it back to the station. A minor problem like a stuck door ends up delaying the system for 10-20 minutes. There are pocket tracks, but they're clearly not effective enough.

But hey, let's build the Silver Line!!!

+8 Vote up Vote down

@ChrisHowdy · 682 weeks ago

Incredible. And somehow, with this happening EVERY DAY, it's not tracked back to people approving the equipment for service ONE STATION EARLIER?

1 reply · active 679 weeks ago

0 Vote up Vote down

@teganann · 679 weeks ago

Silly you thinking anyone except the FixWmata blog is tracking these things.

+10 Vote up Vote down

John · 682 weeks ago

So Metro... Point the finger at others... And if the finger pointing comes back to you, point the finger at the finger pointer and say "YOURE RACIST!!!" Jackie Jeter's American dream...

In other news... How bout Dan Stessels gaffe???

3 replies · active 682 weeks ago

+5 Vote up Vote down

former employee · 682 weeks ago

I think Dan Stessel wants a position in Metro's Civil Rights Dept. He sounds like one of them.

+1 Vote up Vote down

guest · 682 weeks ago

i saw the CBS news last night; maybe it was just their editing, but stessel came out looking like an IDIOT.

i also noted they didn't address the issue of sexual harassment BY WMATA EMPLOYEES.

0 Vote up Vote down

Guest · 682 weeks ago

They wouldn't dare say anything about "sarlees angels".

He thinks it's ok to not be diverse but spend thousands of dollars on "Diversity Training". What a joke! Metro is not diverse. Metro is segregated.
Operations is 99% African Americans.

+2 Vote up Vote down

Dezlboy · 682 weeks ago

Per sexual harrasment: Stessel said, "one person's harassment is another person's flirting." ER, flirting is sexual harassment!

If someone feels harassed, they should bring it to the attention of Metro Transit One person's harassment is another person's flirting.
If someone feels harassed, they should bring it to the attention of Metro Transit Police and we will follow up," said Metro Spokesman Dan Stessel.

Per concrete dust "it's not harmful". ER, tell that to 9/11 first responders suffering serious lung disease.

2 replies · active 682 weeks ago

+2 Vote up Vote down

anon · 682 weeks ago

"ER, flirting is sexual harassment!"

ER, not always. You're thinking of unwanted flirting. Know the difference.

0 Vote up Vote down

dezlboy · 682 weeks ago

anon, I;ll clarify. One way, unwanted, flirting on a crowded subway car stuck in a tunnel with no where to go is sexual harassment if the other party has made it clear that they do not want the flirting to continue.

I know the difference. Duh?

+17 Vote up Vote down

former employee · 682 weeks ago

Often times trains do not get Daily Safety Check (DST) done. I know when I worked there most mechanics would use the trains to sleep. Train Operators would report problem. Supervisor would make the call to "defer" which means run the train for revenue. "Belly" a consist. The pressue comes for the very top to have a certain amount of cars for service. And there are times when no parts are available to fix train. Metro cares about numbers... Top mgmt. cares about their asses only... sadly not the riding public.

1 reply · active 682 weeks ago

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Guest · 682 weeks ago

Former employee you are correct! "Just make revenue service" no matter what happens with a train going down or service for the public. I believe metro has to pay a fine if the correct number of trains and buses are not in revenue each day.

+13 Vote up Vote down

Ex Metro · 682 weeks ago

Your source is right on here. Downtown boys care about nothing but numbers, so if you can make your fiefdom's numbers look good, you'll be given a bigger realm to foul up even more with this kind of mentality.

1 reply · active 682 weeks ago

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Guest2 · 682 weeks ago

I think there is an unsigned agreement- we will keep those people in operations quiet as long as we downtown keep our cushy jobs.

+1 Vote up Vote down

Elizabeth · 682 weeks ago

It drives me nuts to hear about delays when metro has been open for all of 10 min in the morning, but thank you to all of the metro, or former metro, employees that shed light on the chain of command and orders that are put out there. If anyone else literally fell asleep on the job, they'd be fired! But that's another issue... thanks for the insight as to the terrible positions metro places their "in the trenches" employees, by discouraging their safety/maintenance checks- just a matter of time before another Fort Totten incident with this culture of pass the buck...