Yesterday morning on the Metro commute to work I had just arrived at Ballston Station when I noticed that all of the electronic boards were displaying MAJOR DELAYS, with no further details. Used to frequent delays on both the orange and red lines during morning rush hour, I really didn’t think much of it. That changed when I arrived at Metro Center downtown, and was quickly herded into a large group of people gathered on one platform on the upper level (where the red line comes through). The announcements indicated that there was a piece of track that had been removed in the downtown area, and that all trains were running on one track between several stations. The picture at the right is a very blurry, dark look at the platform where thousands of passengers were waiting for the next train for both directions.
Luckily the next red line train that came through was headed in the direction of work, so I got on (along with what seemed like a thousand other people), and we rode slowly toward Union Station packed in light sardines. I was giving a training seminar at 9:30, and many people didn’t show up thanks to the extensive delay. There was an article on the front page of this morning’s Washington Post about how a section of the track completely broke off and rammed into the electrified third rail. In the afternoon yesterday, Metro offered reduced fairs to help compensate for the major delays occurring all day.
I think there might be a tendency for the Metro board to use this to demonstrate how underfunded they are, however I’m convinced that would demonstrate poor judgment at best. It is true that Metro is the only major US-based public transit organization without a dedicated revenue stream (they have to beg for money each year from local governments), but by blaming lack of funding for safety concerns they might be opening themselves up to many more problems, including the increased scrutiny of local governments and the effectiveness of Metro’s board. It’s more likely an issue with the actual manufacturing process of the rail than an issue of funding (in other words, having more money to spend probably wouldn’t have prevented this type of problem). It seems that Metro has used the budget argument far too often to help explain massive daily delays, overcrowding and what has been termed “The Orange Crush” (increased crowding on the orange line). It’s almost looking like one of those situations where the boy cried “wolf” too often.
As a commuter and local area resident, I just hope they can figure things out before they lose too much more ridership. It doesn’t take too many incidents like the one yesterday, and too many weeks of daily delays, to dissuade riders and force them to consider other forms of transportation. I know I’ll be riding the Metro until the end, but I can’t be certain about others.