Heat kink at West Hyattsville last year (Photo credit: WMATA)

It’s cold. So cold, in fact, that Metro is suffering more issues than usual, reports the Post:

Drops in temperature like this can create problems for transit systems like Metro. Rails contract in cold and expand in heat, and that can eventually lead to cracks or breaks in the rails, said Dan Stessel, a spokesman for the agency.

Metro has crews ready to respond in case such cracks occur. On Wednesday morning, Green Line trains had to share a track for nearly two hours as crews replaced a broken rail near the Naylor Road station. The break probably was a result of the cold weather, Stessel said.

This, of course, conjures up memories of last July, when historic heat lead to a “heat kink” on the Green Line; a Metro track actually morphed due to ungodly high temperatures.

Obviously, if summer has heat kinks, what would say in winter? Cold snap?