January 30, 2007
More Fire at Farragut North?
What's going on at the Farragut North Metro station? Last Friday there was a small fire that, while dealt with quickly, caused delays for many commuters on the coldest day of the year. And now, just five days later, there's report of more smoke coming out of the same station, and a WMATA service alert (that looks to have just been taken down) of more delays on the Glenmont-bound Red Line due to "an emergency at the station."
On the whole, we're all thankful that these recent emergencies have only caused very short-term service disruptions and that no injuries have been reported. But on the other hand, two similar incidents at the same station in less than a week seems little strange. So color us relieved that new WMATA General Manager John B. Catoe has announced his intention to launch a comprehensive new safety initiative, which would include a thorough analysis of the state of Metro safety by an independent contractor. Though Metro's safety record is comparable to other subway systems in the country, the number of accidents, including passenger injuries and worker deaths, over the last year are a serious concern.
Feel free to leave your Metro safety ideas, or complaints about this morning's commute, in the comments.
|
Nothing out of the ordinary-a Branch Ave bound Green Line train's first car was out of service (what exactly causes these-stuck doors?), but the rest of the train was working fine, if a bit packed, until Shaw, when all the lights went out and stayed out until I got off at Gallery Place. Always encouraging to get off a train and hear kids talking about how they think there's a guy with a gun inside.
You know how many Metro rides you whiners take without any problems whatsoever? It's a clear cut case of underappreciation. It's a huge system that moves thousands and thousands of commuters every day all day and isolated incidents are unfairly highlighted. Get over yourself and enjoy what you don't know you have.
Constructive criticism aside, I do believe the article said "Feel free to leave your Metro safety ideas, or complaints about this morning's commute, in the comments." Normally I have no issues, today I did, today DCist happened to ask for them.
Touche metro for *usually* giving me a stress-free commute, and on the rare occasion you don't, everyone else's reaction is usually worth the price of admission!
is this fire stuff happening on the track itself? if that's the case, you could chalk it up to the amount of plain garbage that just piles up under there that probably ignites. how's this for a safety analysis -- clean up your stations.
there, that was cheaper than hiring an expensive analyst...
While I totally give metro props for working 99% of the time, is it too much to ask for implementation of a better speaker system?
I heard fire, obstruction and "mmmmggrrbhbhhhhbbmmm" given as answers to the 45-minute wait this morning.
Here's to hoping that WMATA GM's Catoe gets his wish of implementing a clear speaker system within the metro.
I agree that Metro needs a better speaker system, or at the very least they need to turn up the volume or get a few amps. Most of the time I can't hear what the announcements are so I have no idea why my train's delayed.
I entered Farragut North around 10:30am and was able to figure out what was happening, for once, because I could understand the announcement. A short wait while Shady Grove bound trains passed through, then got on a surprisingly uncrowded Glenmont train. Compared to other misadventures, today's troubles were pretty minor.
Metro is working on a better speaker system, iirc.
The first fire in FN was on the tracks, south end of the station past where a 6-car train normally stops. You could see the residue from fire extinguishers in the afternoon. It was a small rubbish fire if I had to guess. If you read the Metro status reports every day, you'd see these events are uncommon, but not unheard of. For example, one only has to go as far as yesterday's report:
3:54 p.m. An inbound Red Line train at Twinbrook was delayed because of a brush fire along the track. Service resumed after the fire was extinguished.
And I have to side with poster #2.. Metro is pretty flawless when you get past the little bullshit issues. FN is the busiest station on the system. I don't think it's at all "strange" that there were two fires there in a short period of time. There are many cameras in the station that would have captured any arson activity.
I guess I'm in the minority when I say that I will take NYC subway over WMATA any day. MTA trains are reliable, always have ways to back things up if trains go out of service or track maintenance is scheduled, and it takes me where I need to go when I need to go. Sure, DC metro runs late on weekends - but every 20 minutes? Also, 4 car trains during rush hour? The worst thing is the way their cars are designed, which is not spacious enough for people to navigate through. Friendly voices can do so much to remind them to move to the middle - for fear of being stuck. The seats need to be aligned alongside the windows facing each other, rather than the inconvenient two-by-twos they've got going right now. That alone would help the overcrowding problem significantly, by providing more standing room.
Fish - I doubt you're in the minority. Who would pick a non-24/7 non-redundant system over 24/7 plus multiple redundancies?
However, the rest of us live in reality and understand that WMATA is 30 years old while the NYC Subway is 100+. We also understand that WMATA will never have the amount of tunnels the MTA was blessed with. I'll note that MTA is finally starting the 2nd Ave Subway -- 40 years after it was approved.
As for your comments on the cars.. that's exactly what I mean by "the little bullshit issues". Also, you're not the first person to notice this. WMATA is well aware of the problem and that's why the new cars coming in have configurations more suited for standees.
"Redundancies," "the little bullshit issues," however you might like to call it, they are big enough problems to cause inconvenience on thousands of commuters living in this area. Calling them by different names will not fix the problem.
The redundancy problem is likely never going to be fixed. Do you seriously expect additional tunnels to be placed under the city at the current cost of tunnelling? Look at the Tyson's project, the Newark City Subway, and the Second Avenue Line.
The little bullshit issues are just that. It's just not the end of the world when someone blocks the doorway.
I generally have zero problems with Metro. But then sometimes there's just a need to bitch. 30 minutes at least for a train going downtown? Rindondicon.
But the speakers and announcements were crap. Thank goodness I had a book with me today.
UNBELIEVEABLE!! Three fires in the past 4 working days (See WP article) in the same location??? Can't they fix the problem. I have been hours late 2 days in a row. Other subways systems are decades older and have less problems.
Found this post looking for info on this mess. It's not underappreciation, frankly I believe the metro stations should not catch fire. Another delay this afternoon (Feb. 27) at 1:15pm, already down to (or rather, still on) a single track at Farragut the red line stopped for a fire department visit to Farragut North. Learned my lesson last few times, was at Woodley Park station when it happened and just took a cab.