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Four and half months after the fatal June 22 Red Line crash and much to the relief of frustrated commuters, Metro announced today that Red Line service near the Fort Totten station has returned to normal. From the press release:
Red Line trains are no longer traveling at reduced speeds or taking turns moving one at a time between the Fort Totten and Takoma Metrorail stations. Maintenance program repairs in the Fort Totten Metrorail station area have been implemented, including replacing original track equipment dating back to the 1970s.
Metro has increased capacity on the Red Line by operating more trains during the morning and afternoon rush hour periods. The number of trains has increased from 38 trains to 44 trains.
Note though that track circuit repair work continues near the Takoma and Silver Spring stations. That work will force trains to share one track between those two stations from 10 p.m. until closing, Sunday through Thursday nights for the next four to six weeks. WMATA says, however, that since trains operate only every 15 to 20 minutes during those times, customers are unlikely to experience delays.
Despite this development, WMATA says all Metrorail trains continue to be operated in manual mode until further notice, so no relief yet for those jerky stops and starts.
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"Normal" being defined as a reduced CHUD sabotage tunnel fire threat level from "Holocaust" to "Toast-a-riffic."
Keep f**king that urban chicken, Cantoe!
First reaction: HUZZAH!
Second reaction: Yeah, right.
Hm. EdHoover's kind of cute.
White enough for ya?
p.s. Please keep your distance from our buses.
So when do we get an answer about what caused the red line crash? Probably not for months, right?
Yeah, I would reckon at least 6 months. NTSB takes their time (rightfully so).
the one train hitting the other caused the accident.
Yeah, I guess by 'normal' they mean 'horrible.'
This morning at Shady Grove I was unable to board the train waiting at the platform because it was already full and people were standing in the aisles. I had to wait for the next empty train to arrive. Keep in mind that trains originate at Shady Grove, so if a train is already full before it even leaves the originating station, no one can board that train at any of the 12 stations between Shady Grove and downtown.
I used to want to move to a residence close to a Metro station, but the level of service on Metro has declined so precipitously in recent years that I'm now making a concerted effort to avoid metro.
I wouldn't be surprised if the poor quality of both Metro and the taxi system is encouraging drunk driving.
Now if you could get a jury trial in traffic court...I think our peers might have some sympathy for that.
Sure, it's back to normal, if you consider a normal commute to include single-tracking due to smoke and fire on the tracks near Metrocenter: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/getthere/2009/10/metro_alert_red_line_delays_in.html?wprss=getthere
Maybe the next time my boss gives me sh*t for wanting to work at home on the federal holidays my company doesn't close I'll send him right to the Metro Alerts page.
OTOH, it's better than the public transit system we'd have if we didn't have Metro. Yeah for lowering your standards!
Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit that the Red Line is running anywhere near close to "normal." The trains are still way over packed (even well past rush hour) and they are still not running as often, nor as fast. I can't even think of something funny to say about this - it's just a goddamn lie, and I am sick to death of my commute being so horrible and unreliable.