No truer words could've been said by Mike Tyson, and metro definitely got puched in the face yesterday. What is metro's emergency plan in a situation like this? I wonder if that information is available to the general public.
Did Metro stick to it's emergency plan following yesterday's catastrophe? I'm not criticizing...just asking. Were metro alerts issued?
I'm thankful to have been near our train operator, as that allowd me to get first-hand information from his radio. When I got on the blue line at McPherson Square, this disaster was still being addressed as "a train experiencing mechanical difficulties". Yeah, I guess when half of a train car is rammed up another one's ass...it is technically some sort of mechanical difficulty. When does metro play it straight with the public? Let us know whats going on!
Was shuttle service ever established from Takoma? Most of the displaced train commuters I saw just hopped on regular route metro buses. Due to a broken fare collector (go figure), I didn't have to pay.
I understand there's a lot that happened in such a short period of time. How did metro fare in YOUR experience yesterday?
9 comments:
It was off the hook. Once I realized we weren't going anywhere, I left the Ft. Totten platform and went outside to catch the E4 (I believe) to head to Friendship Heights. When I got to the exit I was advised to get on the "shuttle". I get outside and there's NO SHUTTLE! I went back inside and asked "Where's the shuttle to Silver Spring?" The station manager said, "Right there." and pointed at nothing. lol So I say fuck the shuttle and go back to the original plan to get to Friendship Heights. Well they pulled that bus out of service and made it a shuttle, but I'm not in the shuttle line. So I go back in the station and get on the green line to Greenblet, s/o said she would pick me up from there. This is when I get an opportunity to read something about the collision online and respond to some FB comments. Got home about 8pm, thankfully, had a cold beer and some left over spaghetti.
-Dat Dude
The accident didn't affect my commute too much if any. Its crazy to think this could happen in this day and age tho. I remember walking into the Crystal City metro station at 5:30 and seeing the flashing sign "Service Advisory....". My first thought was what is wrong with the Red line now? Rest in peace to all our fellow metro riders...
My main complaint with Metro's response yesterday (from the perspective of a commuter trying to go from Metro Center to Silver Spring at about 5:30) was that they were not at all forthcoming about the magnitude of the problem. "Mechanical difficulties at Ft Totten" means, to me, sit there sweating at Metro Center and within 20 or 30 minutes tops I'll be able to get on a train. I also considered walking to Gallery Place and getting the Green to Ft. Totten. Both of those strategies would have been disastrous, but nothing Metro said helped me to realize that. Metro should have come right out and said: "Major problem. You're not getting home that way. Try something else." I don't care if they tell me precisely what the problem is right away (there was obviously a lot of confusion) but this bullshit "minor delay" "mechanical difficulty" code isn't helpful. They must have known pretty much right away that whole side of the Red Line would be toast. So they should just tell us instead of having us waste our time. (I wound up getting home by taking the Red Line the other way to Bethesda - there was a problem that way too, evidently, because it took about 40 minutes - and then taking the J2 over.) BTW, I'm glad you were not on the affected trains, Metroman!
I was at a happy hour until 6:30, and then tried to catch one of the S bus routes at 16th and P. After waiting for over and hour and watching numerous buses go by, packed to the brim (they looked unsafe they were so packed), I decided to go get some dinner at my office.
After that, I then got on the metro at Dupont Circle, took it to Rhode Island Ave and then got off and took two shuttle buses to get to Silver Spring, then walked home. By the time I left my work (7:30), most of the crows had dissipated, and while my travel time was still long (I got home around 10PM), it was almost completely hassle-free, so I think it was worth the wait.
Oh, and yes, at 7:30 metro was still claiming that there was a "mechanical difficulty" outside of Fort Totten. It made me wonder if there was another completely separate issue, since I already knew that the problem was way more than a "mechanical difficulty."
if WMATA had looked at other subway systems as a case study, like NYCs subway, DC would have mutliple tracks per line and this would have been avoided...or the statistical probability extremely low...the last time a severe rear end collision with fatalities in NYC was 1995...so do the math...forget a silver and purple lines...build dual tracks...
I knew something was wrong when I paid REDUCED fare leaving Braddock Metro. That's when I got on my crackberry and check out Metro mobile then came straight to iMetro.
Didn't know how serious it was until I got home and turn on the news.
My evening commute was uneventful. I too heard the p.a. announcements that there was a delay on the red line due to "mechanical difficulties". What a fcking understatement! Excuse my French- I didn't know what was REALLY going on until I received your twitter alert. Glad you're ok, my condolences to the the families of the victims.
My best friend works for Metro and knew the operator who was killed. He said that she used to give him antibacterial wipes for his steering wheel...
Green Liner
I had no problems on the Yellow line at 5:45 however the sign mentioned an "incident" at Ft. Totten. The word "incident" is metro code for something major has happened and you aren't going anywhere.
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