Photo by Adam Gerard.

Photo by Adam Gerard.

Update: Metro confirms that the restrictions will be in place until the substation is rebuilt. Demolition could begin this week, said Metro spokesman Mike Tolbert, but it will take at least six months to come back online. So it looks like the 8-minute headway during rush hour will be here to stay for awhile.

Meanwhile, the newly formed riders’ union is calling for additional solutions to mitigate the delays. “While we appreciate the maintenance and repair of the system is essential to its health and dependability, the Metrorail system is essential to the region,” said WMATARU Chair Ashley Robbins. “Riders implore Metro to work with riders and do everything in its power to ease the inconvenience while we all endure the next several months of service repairs.” They offered some possible solutions:

  • Institute express bus service mirroring the entire Silver, Orange, and Blue Lines over the next six months until a standard level of service is restored

  • “Increase midday and evening frequencies to compensate for reduced peak-hour capacity, allowing riders to adjust commute schedules

  • Eliminate peak fares for the duration of reduced service

  • Continue to provide riders with regular and frequent updates on the progress of transformer replacement and service restoration.”

Original:

In the wake of a transformer fire, Metro is reducing the frequency of Orange and Silver line trains during rush hour for the foreseeable future, WMATA announced today. Trains will now run every eight minutes, instead of every six.

Things had gotten bad enough on Metro that one group of riders moved to form a riders’ union, while more than 2,600 people turned to divine intervention. And then they got even worse after a fire on Monday at the Stadium Armory station knocked a 9-megawatt power substation offline. Metro implemented speed restrictions on the Blue/Orange/Silver lines while repairs are made, which has caused hellish commutes for many riders.

“I started a new job over 3 weeks ago and I’ve been late practically every day no matter how early I leave,” said rider Erica Hall, whose unpredictable commute from Ballston to McPherson Square has become deeply frustrating. “I am at my wits’ end.”

Twitter was filled with similar accounts this morning.

During a board meeting today, Metro Deputy General Manager Rob Troup said the repairs could take six months to be completed. In the meantime, Metro is feeding power to the Stadium Armory from substations elsewhere. They have reduced speeds and are only allowing one train to pass through the area at a time to avoid overloading the system. Hence the delays and slowdowns and “stop and go” rides.

To ease the problems, caused by trains bunching up around Stadium Armory, Metro said today that it is reducing the number of Orange and Silver line trains. They will now run every 8 minutes during rush hour, down from every six minutes. To ease crowding, Metros said they also plan to increase the number of 8-car trains on the two lines.

Given the timeline for repairs, the speed restrictions and reduced frequency of service could last until spring.

Filed Under: metro, wmata,