August 8, 2007
Red Line Stations Closed (Updated)
UPDATE #2
WMATA reports that all three stations have re-opened, though some delays may linger in order to get everything back on schedule. Enjoy your evening, Washington.
According to an alert from Metro, the Dupont Circle, Woodley Park, and Cleveland Park stations have been closed due to a suspicious package aboard a train. Metro will be running shuttle buses between Van Ness and Farragut North to connect to the stations.
We hope the package turns out to be a forgotten backpack or parcel, and that Metro resolves the issue soon; otherwise you Red Liners will be in for a tortuous, hot, and uncomfortable commute tonight. Our advice? Belly up to a local bar and wait it out.
UPDATE:
According to WTOP, the suspicious package is a cardboard box wrapped in dark brown paper, which Metro X-rayed and decided to detonated on the train. The Woodley Park and Cleveland Park stations are being used to turn trains around for that portion of the line, but aren't in any danger. Metro is asking people to avoid the Red Line altogether.
19 buses are providing connecting service. At 50 people or so for a sardine-canned bus, the Red Line commute has all but ground to a standstill. Those of you with no other options, enjoy the walk home; the heat index is only 104º right now.
Photo from Eye Captain.
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I'll be walking 2 miles to catch the bus in the heat. gotta love it.
I just got off one of the shuttles from Farragut North to Van Ness...after sitting and sweating in the Farragut station for over half an hour waiting for them to tell us what was going on.
What a nightmare.
I like how it was reported at 2:57, and as of 4pm they are just now getting ready to x-ray it.
Ohmygod. Should I just start walking toward home now?
That is a long time. First e-mail alert I got from Metro said 3:47.
"otherwise you Red Liners will be in for a tortuous, hot, and uncomfortable commute tonight."
Otherwise? I have a feeling Red Line commuters were already pretty much boned...
5: Well, this is according to Washington Post's article. Maybe it was discovered later. But I somehow doubt it.
er, I meant NBC4's report here
Did anyone get a look at the 'suspicious pacakage'?
I'm wondering if this is a legitimate threat/scenario or if this is a case of the Metro Super Troopers...
My advice?
Drink some water and ride your bike home.
You shouldn't be depending on the Gov't or Big Oil to get you places anyway. It just causes problems. Ride a bike.
That's it, I'm buying a car!
At least when I'm stuck in traffic, I'll have my own a/c and won't be squeezed up against sweaty flab.
Gosh, lwatkins... you are sooooo smart and counter-culture!
Or alternatively, if you can, telecommute; leave DC to the tourists.
My advice? lwatkins should go jump in the river. And stay there.
Anacostia or Potomac?
rappahannock
Or, you could run over a biker on your way home!!!
Does it really take more than an hour for Metro to respond to a BOMB THREAT? I know the bus drivers are lazy mo-fo's and the station managers are all anger management cases, but come on, isn't the Metro police able to do better than that? I'm sure glad they arrested the french fry kid and the half-eaten clark bar lady, since having a major station and an entire commuter line knocked out for hours during the evening rush is sure not their fault.
If a one hour response is as good as they can do, we are completely screwed. If it were a real bomb, the station would be out of commission for months (years?) given the lack of basic competence there seems to be on Metro these days.
Two words: Super Troopers
News says it's a cardboard box and they're preparing to detonate it on the train (yikes!).
Damn, someone beat me to the Super Troopers reference...
If you think an hour is an excessively long time to be addressing a bomb threat, you clearly have no understanding or appreciation for what a proper response entails and I will leave it at that.
"Or, you could run over a biker on your way home!!!"
The sound you just heard was my key gouging the paint on your (leased) car as you sit in it, gridlocked, and I split lanes on my bike.
Or maybe you didn't hear it, cause you were busy phoning the wife to say you'd be late to din-din.
Whatever. Not my problem, really.
Now NBC4 says they "may" detonate it.
NBC4 reporting the situation is now "all clear." Glad I'm on the Blue Line ... today (unlike last Thursday's clusterf*ck near Rosslyn).
I just dealt with what should have been an easier situation, from farragut north to gallery place... and I must say I have never seen a more disorganized 'emergency' response in my life.
There wasn't even a sign when entering farragut north that there wouldn't be any trains running toward Shady Grove and to go get on a shuttle instead.
Massive crowds, no information, even less organization. Par for the course for Metro these days, it would seem.
If they can't get A/C in the stations, you would think they could at least get some fans.
and to lwatkins: some of us sweat. a lot. i for one don't want to be ruining my work clothes sweating through them in 100 degree heat. thanks.
They are open now...................via wmata
[23]: You gouge the paint on someone's car and you're just looking to get run over, or shot. You're not in Iowa anymore.
omg sweat!!! cuz it's soooo hard to find extra clothes to change into. btw, bike messengers kill blind people and their puppies, haven't you seen?
has anyone else noticed that every comment board on this site turns into a scary anti-bike rant? and you people wonder why bikers give you the finger and ride aggressively. answer: because you want us to drown or die. nice.
stations reopened
http://www.wmata.com/about/met_news/story.cfm?ID=1409
Iam SO glad I work at home.
regardless, train service has been horrible this summer. WMATA keeps citing "heat" on the tracks for its delays. MARC to and from Baltimore was severely crippled yesterday due to equipment issues. I have been walking a lot more these days since my scooter was stolen.
fwiw, I was waiting for an inbound train at the tenleytown station around 3:15/3:30-ish... and there were multiple announcements about exactly what was going on...
Krisa, taking an hour to just SHOW UP for a bomb is unacceptable, period.
Everybody knows it takes time to set up the equipment, etc., but Metro should have gotten there lots quicker.
Metro management is the worst combination of incompetence and apathy I have ever seen.
And I actually have never met anyone who has been a Metro apologist before, so good job!
Guest [18]
@29 - dude, I ride my bike EVERYWHERE except to and from work. I don't own a car and have no desire to own a car. If other people don't sweat like whores in church when they're peddling between gas guzzlers while wearing a suit, more power to them.
Get over yourself.
I propose a DCist version of Godwin's Law: As DCist continues to post articles, no matter the subject, the probability of a poster suggesting that everyone should bike approaches one.
The Woodley Park and Cleveland Park stations are being used to turn trains around for that portion of the line
That isn't/wasn't correct. The stations were closed because the only points where trains can turn around are Van Ness and Farragut North. That's where the track crossovers are.
From NBC4:
"Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said the stations at Woodley Park and Cleveland Park were closed so that trains can turn around at Van Ness and head back to Shady Grove. Trains are turning around at Farragut North and heading back to Glenmont."
First, I own my car. Second, I don't drive it to work, I metro.
I've just grown painfully weary of you holier-than-though cyclists (not all of you) thinking that you own the road and that everyone else should do as you do.
How about this, instead of me running you down, I'll throw a stick in your spokes as you race by me and almost knock me over.
Hey guest 29, what if my office doesn't have a shower? Throwing on a suit over my sweaty nuts isn't going to get rid of the smell.
I don't want you to drown or die...I want you to follow the rules of the road. I guess that's too much to ask.
I was looking for places to live a few years ago and told my agent to not show me places where I would use the red line.
WWDTD? = What Would Dan Tangherlini Do?
Just got home, Farragut North to Van Ness. Not too bad, except the clusterf*&^ of people at Van Ness pushing onto the Shady Grove train so those of us trying to get off couldn't. I've been through other massive train delays, but this was horrible with the not letting people get off the train. At least I had some good conversations with people on the train and the escalators about the situation. Nice folks! (And am so glad I knew before I left work; the amount of people at Van Ness - both getting on and off - who asked "What's up?" was huge.)
The person who reporter the suspicious package had to be a tourist, as no self-respecting local resident would panic at the sight of a box or bag on a Metro train. Unless the package is ticking and the digital counter is visible, counting down to zero, don't say anything. Metro's "see it, say it" program only reinforces the "be scared, vote Republican" mantra of the current administration. This bogus bomb incident disrupted the system to a similar extent that a REAL bomb would have done, with the exception of no actual casualties, heatstroke excepted. All in all, a big waste of time and money, pointless overreaction, and continued paranoia. There's more to fear from everyday traffic accidents than terrorist attacks in this country, which have amounted to a big zilch since 9/11.
WTOP says its all open again...
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1213231
Seriously, what is up with all the bike/anti-bike stress on this blog? It's sort of relevant to the subject here, but still. I've lived in DC for 10 years - used to own a car, don't now - but have never, in any situation, had any sort of run-in/confrontation/problem with someone riding a bicycle. Other drivers, yes, for sure. But never bikes. I don't get it.
While I am inclined to agree with you guest [42], the only thing I can hope comes of this is for Metro/MPD to get its sh*t together and learn how to properly inform the public of what to do. Sending out text messages doesn't help people who aren't enrolled. Relying of everybody to just "figure out how to get home" is a recipe for disaster.
I am sure I'm wrong, but let's all pray that somebody is paying attention to the piss poor response that law enforcement has to threats in this area so that maybe, just maybe, they can get better at it.
Love the photo of the Dupont circle entrance.
Makes the metro station look like some kind jumping-off point for a billion lemmings, or an industrial gateway to hell -- take your pick.
They had a pic of the box on one channel.. "Department of Bombland Security" was written on it.
guest 42:
The box said "department of bombland security" on it. Not that I think someone with bad intentions would necessarily announce them as such, but one would be remiss not to report such a thing.
Guest 41, I SO agree with you. "Be Scared, Vote Republicans" Those Rethugs' survival is based on a culture of paranoia & fear. Bastards.
guest 41 and 48, totally disagree. And it's a nice assumption, but we'll have now way of knowing who noticed it, so we can just all nod our heads to the beat assuming you must be right, and "yeah, down with the repubilicans" while you're at it.
OR. everyone who rides can be alert and report things. However, it's the station manager's job to make the call for shutting it down, reported or not. Maybe it wasn't even a rider at all?
and guest 44, did you want a personal escort home in a squad car? ...oh! Or maybe ride piggy back on a Segue Cop