Metro to announce Sunday afternoon whether it will reopen Monday
Metro to reopen with very limited service Monday
(about 2 hours later)
Metro said it plans to announce Sunday afternoon whether it will reopen for Monday’s start of the work week — and spokesman Dan Stessel did not sound confident that ready-to-go commuters will be happy with the news.
Metro will reopen Monday -- but with only very limited underground service, officials said Sunday.
“We’re still assessing things, but the effects of the storm are likely to be felt for days,” Stessel said just after 9 a.m. Sunday. Whatever rail and bus service is available Monday, if any, “will not be normal,” he said.
The system will open at 7 a.m. with limited service on the Red, Orange and Green lines as follows: the Orange Line will run between Ballston and Eastern Market; the Red Line will run between Medical Center and Union Station; and the Green Line will run between Fort Totten and Anacostia.
[Live updates as the region digs out from the blizzard]
Trains will run every 20 to 25 minutes, the agency said. Fares will not be charged.
On issue is clearing snow from Metro’s 130 miles of outdoor tracks, running in two directions. Stessel said several diesel-powered “prime movers,” or large rail cars, have been plowing snow since the storm began Friday night, but “we’ve still got a lot of work to do.” Hundreds of workers have been removing snow from stations, but, as of Sunday morning, some platforms and outdoor escalators remained buried.
Buses, which also will be free, will run on what Metro is calling “lifeline service” on 22 lines only, from noon to 5 p.m., every half hour.
Of Metro’s fleet of 1,100-plus subway cars, only 356 were moved into the transit system’s idle tunnels for the weekend, Stessel said.
The routes are as follows:
Although the transit agency on Friday had spoken of sheltering about 900 rail cars in the tunnels, it turned out not to be possible “for a lot of technical reasons,” Stessel said. Numerous cars were moved out of the elements and into rail-yard garages, but many others are encased in snow and need to be shoveled out Sunday, he said.
- District of Columbia: 32, 33, 36, 53, 70, 90, A6, A8, P12, S4, U8, X2
[Sunday’s forecast: Sunny but too cold for much to melt]
- Maryland: C4, D12, K6, Q2, V4, Y2, Z8
In removing snow, one major focus are parts of the rail system known as “interlockings.” These are groups of rail switches located at outdoor points where rail lines divide or converge. There are three big interlockings: near the Stadium-Armory station, involving the Orange, Blue and Silver lines; near the East Falls Church station, involving the Orange and Silver; and near the King Street-Old Town station, involving the Blue and Yellow lines.
- Virginia: 16A, 16E, 28A
The outdoor groups of switches at those locations are almost constantly in operation, as trains pass by every few minutes, headed in different directions, Stessel said There are scores of other switches all along the rail system that are used less frequently — for example, when a train needs to be moved from one track to a parallel track to avoid an unexpected obstacle.
[What schools will be closed on Monday]
Although the switches are equipped with heaters, “they’re really not designed for two feet of snow,” Stessel said. Not only do workers with tools have to remove the snow and ice, he said, they have to clear a wide area, to prevent snow from blowing back onto the switches.
Stessel said Metro expects to announce its plan for Monday before D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser holds her 5 p.m. news briefing Sunday. He said Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld will attend the briefing and explain Metro’s status.
