July 1, 2008
Metro to Stay Open Until 3 a.m. on July 4th After All
WMATA has released a schedule for Independence Day -- and it includes a change from what we first told you last week. Metro will open at 7 a.m. and close at 3 a.m. on Friday, July 4. This schedule is different from what was published on WMATA's holiday schedule on their web site last week (it said it would close at midnight), but that schedule has since been updated.
Keep in mind though that on July 4, the Smithsonian station will be closed for security reasons, and bicycles will also be banned on the system all day.
There will also be changes in line routing for the entire day. The Yellow line will be shortened to run between the Franconia-Springfield and Mt. Vernon Square/7th Street-Convention Center.The best options for getting to the National Mall are going to be L'Enfant Plaza or Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter. The Blue line will only run between Huntington and Rosslyn. The Orange line will terminate at both the Largo Town Center and New Carrollton stations.
Trains on the Green line will also run more frequently, starting at 6 p.m. every other train will terminate at the Fort Totten station. On the Red line, every other train will turn back at Silver Spring.
Metro has also prepared a brochure you can print that shows you where security checkpoints will be, includes walking maps, and other Independence Day information.
Photo by Grundlepuck
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I'm glad Metro has decided not to run trains in a pattern that matches the maps that are posted in every car, every station, every phone book, and every tourist book. We wouldn't want those tourists to be able to figure out the system.
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but isnt that the point of metro?
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if they were smart, they'd put up temporary maps showing the currently running routes. instead, we'll get garbled announcements and a ton of tourists stranded at Rosslyn.
at least the system will be open late. from what i remember two years ago, metro was a nightmare trying to get back to virginia within two hours after the fireworks ended.
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Yea, last Independence Day Metro posted temporary maps inside the railcars and at stations.
I assume they'll do the same this year.
Let's hope so.
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Send all the tourists to New Carrolton and then give them a flier telling them to call their congresscritter and bitch about the fact that their beautiful DC trip was ruined because Metro has no dedicated funding source to make pretty 4th of July maps.
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As a regular Metro rider, this is why I purposely avoid riding it on July 4th. I will never forget the lady on the train after the fireworks in 2005 who had a panic attack and had the train stopped on the middle of the Yellow line bridge for 15 minutes. Another rider notified the driver that a woman was screaming for her to be let off and was trying to pry open the doors. The train conductor stopped the train just as it was leaving the tunnel and headed to the bridge, and it took some time for him to figure out what was going on. Being crushed between screaming toddlers and a pack of singing Salvidorans (see, they really do love America)--she lost it. I guess this day was a bad choice for her one day of the year to leave the Family Truckster behind and take Metro.