A packed platform at Metro Center on the Red Line during rush hour on June 25. Photo by Sabine01

A packed platform at Metro Center on the Red Line during rush hour on June 25. Photo by Sabine01

It’s going to be tricky getting to work today for riders of Metrorail’s Red Line today after the discovery of a crack early this morning near the Tenleytown-American University station. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said the crack was found on the inbound track just north of the stop about 6:30 a.m.

It’s causing pretty rough delays on the commute downtown. Right now, Red Line trains are running on a single track in both directions between the Friendship Heights and Van Ness-UDC stations while crews fix the damaged rail. Additionally, some trains coming from Glenmont are being turned around at Farragut North to alleviate some of the morning rush, but rider should expect delays of 20 to 30 minutes, possibly longer at stations closer to Tenleytown.

Stessel said repair teams are just starting to arrive at the problem spot and that it’ll be about 1 p.m. before the track is restored. Metro expects Red Line to be running at full capacity for the afternoon rush hour.

And looks like it just got a bit worse for some riders. The Washington Examiner’s Kytia Weir heard from a reader in the single-track zone with an unhappy update:

More news from the Examiner, this time in the first person, as Wilson Building reporter Liz Farmer finds herself on the scene:

Update: Metro says normal service was restored about 12:30 p.m.

Filed Under: commuting, cracked rail, delays, metrorail, red line, rush hour,