Five Station Name Changes:
Physical station signage at White Flint and Largo Town Center has already undergone some changes to complete the process which requires fabrication and installation. Additionally, Metro is working with each jurisdictional partner to coordinate name change rollouts to minimize confusion for customers.
Metrorail, Metrobus and MetroAccess will operate on a Sunday schedule for customers traveling on the Labor Day holiday, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. In observance of the holiday, customers will benefit from off-peak fares and parking will be free all day. The holiday also marks the last day of closures at five Orange Line stations – New Carrollton, Landover, Cheverly, Deanwood and Minnesota Ave – for platform reconstruction and station improvements. The stations will reopen on Tuesday, September 6, capping off a four-year effort to renovate and modernize 20 outdoor stations.
On Monday, September 5, 2022, service will operate as follows:
Per WMATA: Metro is returning more of its newest, most reliable trains to service starting Sept. 12. This marks a significant step in the restoration of all 7000-series railcars, which is key to Metro’s plan to improve train frequency for customers. With the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission’s approval, Metro’s updated return to service plan allows the agency to safely operate up to 20 of its 7000-series trains per day, up from the current limit of eight trains.
“Our 7000-series trains are the newest and most reliable in Metro’s fleet, and they are key to providing the level of service our customers want and deserve,” said Randy Clarke, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer. “In my frequent conversations with Metro customers, I hear over and over that more frequent service and more 7000-series trains on the tracks are a top priority, and that’s what we’re working to deliver. We appreciate the partnership of WMSC in our shared efforts to improve service for the region.”
Per Metro: As part of customer improvements at the Silver Spring Station, Metro is replacing the five entrance escalators at the Silver Spring Station with brand-new escalators that are more durable and reliable. Work will begin at the north entrance between East-West Highway and Second Ave on Tuesday, Sept 6. The entrance will close during construction for approximately four months to allow the escalators to be replaced concurrently and reduce construction time.
Metrorail service will not be impacted and customers will be able to access the station via the escalator and elevator at the south entrance closest to the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center.
More than a hundred fire and emergency personnel converged on the new Ashburn Station on the Silver Line Extension as part of a full-scale emergency drill Wednesday, August 17. NBC’s Adam Tuss tweeted that “Metro’s safety training drill is turning up some issues with the rail along the second phase of the Silver Line. The rails have been sitting for so long, that many are rusted – meaning some safety” equipment is having a hard time “connecting” to the rails.”
WMATA GM Randy Clarke provided a response to the issues via Twitter on Wednesday night, “While today’s @wmata emergency drill didn’t go perfectly it’s important to clarify that rail rust occurs when trains are not running & is not a safety or construction issue. Pre start-up simulation testing will clean this up similar to what other 🚇 lines look like.
Per our traffic and public safety reporter, Cordell Pugh, the Wheaton Bus Loop has reinforced concrete pavement instead of asphalt. Project may also include replacing the reinforcing steel (“rebar”) and/or an entirely new subbase (graded and compacted base layer [usually gravel] under the concrete). Concrete work does take longer than asphalt resurfacing. When installed correctly, however, concrete outperforms asphalt pavement, especially under enhanced stress from continuous presence of heavy vehicles (buses etc).
Per WMATA: Advisory Effective: 8/22/22 – 1/22/23
While many Metro customers have expressed dissatisfaction with recent service issues, Metro has also been applauded for providing consistent communication regarding issues that have taken place affecting service since Randy Clarke took over as General Manager/CEO on July 1st.
Per Metro: At approximately 7am on Wednesday morning, Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center (ROCC) identified an intermittent IT network connection issue that impacted communications between systems. Customers throughout the rail system were notified to expect delays and received notification through social, text, Web and Metro Alerts to allow for additional travel time while the issue was assessed. After further review, it was determined that the customer data feed was providing incorrect information to our passenger information system, trip planner and third party apps. The majority of customer trips remained on time throughout the morning, and Metro is currently running scheduled service on all rail lines.
Update per Metro (Monday, 8/1/22, 10am): Full Red Line train service has been restored between Farragut North & Van Ness. Crews have completed work after Saturday’s low-voltage cable incident. Trains will operate to all stations, every 10 min. Shuttle bus service remains in place for customers until 11am.
Sunday night at 10:41pm, Metro issued the following update: “Crews have been working continuously to make repairs, so service is restored between Farragut North & Van Ness in time for your morning commute. In the event there are any issues, we’ll have at least 40 shuttle buses ready to operate every 7-10 min.“
Per WMATA: An investigation by Metro’s safety department is ongoing, but Chief Safety Officer Theresa Impastato and Acting Chief Operations Officer Mike Hass have determined that there is no evidence a train was directed to perform a track inspection in an area where there was a report of smoke or fire.
A detailed review of multiple data recording sources along with employee statements, which are being shared with WMSC, revealed that within just two minutes of a fire alarm activating at a drainage pumping station near Dupont Circle, the Rail Operations Control Center attempted to contact train 108 to instruct the operator to hold at Woodley Park Station, however, contact with the train was not successful before the train departed. Shortly thereafter, the operator of train 108 communicated to the control center that he lost speed commands and the controller responded with a request for an inspection. Within moments, the operator reported that he saw sparks on the tunnel wall ahead and observed smoke. This report, along with a report from the station manager at DuPont Circle Station, were the first reports of smoke conditions. The operator immediately stopped his train before entering the incident area and was directed to reverse ends and take customers back to Woodley Park Station.
Per WMATA: Welcome news for customers who ride the Blue, Orange and Silver lines. As of Aug 1, trains will arrive every 15 minutes on weekdays, matching service on the Green and Yellow lines. For most customers, the wait for a train will be no longer than 5-8 minutes, as most stations are served by at least two if not all three lines.
“Improving service for customers is how we will restore the confidence of the National Capital Region,” said Randy Clarke, Metro general manager and chief executive officer. “Restoring 7K service frequency and providing even more improvements is my focus.”
Matt Hilburn, the man behind the “Unsuck DC Metro” Twitter account and self-proclaimed Metro Lover Hater, has died at 54, according to a report by Washingtonian. Unsuck DC Metro began as a blog in 2009, but became almost exclusive to Social media (mainly Twitter and Facebook until the Facebook page was deleted in late 2021), with just four blog posts in the last 9 years compared to constant activity on Twitter as recently as late last week.
Per a 2019 DCist report, “The Unsuck D.C. Metro blog and social media account began a decade ago as one of the few ways that residents could learn about delays and other issues on the WMATA rail system.” Hilburn remained anonymous as the account continued providing updates, but also began to criticize Metro, Metro employees, and even passengers primarily through curated retweets and reposts of others doing the same as the account grew in popularity.