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| Metrorail system to shut down for at least 24 hours beginning at midnight | Metrorail system to shut down for at least 24 hours beginning at midnight |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| In an unprecedented move, officials will shut down entire Metrorail system for at least 24 hours starting at midnight tonight so that crews can inspect 600 electric cables in tunnels throughout the system, General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld announced at a late-afternoon news conference Tuesday. | |
| The unprecedented decision to shut down the system that thousands of commuters and school children depend on sent a shudder throughout the region, but Wiedefeld said it was the only way to ensure the safety of riders. The hope is that the inspections will be completed and that if nothing is found, the system can reopen early Thursday morning. | |
| “While the risk to the public is very low, I cannot rule out a potential life safety issue here, and that is why we must take this action immediately,” Wiedefeld said. “When I say safety is our highest priority, I mean it. That sometimes means making tough, unpopular decisions, and this is one of those times. I fully recognize the hardship this will cause.” | “While the risk to the public is very low, I cannot rule out a potential life safety issue here, and that is why we must take this action immediately,” Wiedefeld said. “When I say safety is our highest priority, I mean it. That sometimes means making tough, unpopular decisions, and this is one of those times. I fully recognize the hardship this will cause.” |
| [LIVE updates on what will happen when the system shuts down] | |
| The move comes after an electrical fire early Monday in Metro tunnel caused huge delays on three subway lines. It involved the same type of track-based power cables that burned during last year’s fatal Yellow Line smoke incident that killed one person and sickened scores of others. Wiedefeld said that while the cables were inspected last year, given Monday’s smoke incident, he felt it important that they be re-examined. | |
| Asked why the shutdown could not be delayed until the weekend Wiedefeld said, “From where I sit the safety of the public and my employees is paramount.” | |
| However, if potentially dangerous cables are found in the inspections, Wiedefeld cautioned that the closure could be extended so that repairs can be made. | |
| [What happened on Monday and the havoc it caused] | [What happened on Monday and the havoc it caused] |
| Even as many riders have turned away from the Metro system blaming almost weekly service disruptions, many thousands still depend on it to get to work. And with Wednesday’s shutdown they will be confronted with the unimaginable. | |
| “Tomorrow we will get a glimpse of what our nation’s capital will look like without this essential system,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va). | |
| A full shutdown could have been avoided if the board had decided to conduct the safety checks over six days, a Metro official said. | A full shutdown could have been avoided if the board had decided to conduct the safety checks over six days, a Metro official said. |
| But during an afternoon conference call, board members, with support from Wiedefeld, decided to shut it down entirely because of concern about Metro’s liability if an incident occurred before the safety checks were complete, the official said. | |
| At the Tuesday afternoon press conference, Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) spoke of his decision. “The most prudent thing is to close down the system and find out what we’re dealing with,” he said. “I am not willing to take a chance.” | |
| [The biggest Metro meltdowns in the last several years] | |
| Members of the region’s congressional delegation were clearly frustrated by the news. | |
| “Today’s decision by General Manager Wiedefeld to shut down the Metrorail system for 24 hours is a gut punch to the hundreds of thousands of commuters who depend on the system,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “While I am extremely frustrated with this news, safety must be our number one priority. This dramatic action highlights the need for long-term safety and reliability improvements throughout the system.” | |
| Members of the region’s Congressional delegation urged the Office of Personnel Management to allow unscheduled leave or allow federal workers, many of whom depend on Metro to get to work, to work from home. They also urged private employers to offer their workers flexibility. | |
| The Office of Personnel Management announced shortly after 6 p.m. that employees of federal offices in the Washington region can take unscheduled leave or telework Wednesday. | |
| Daron Harris lives in Landover, Md. and commutes two and a half hours to George Washington University, via bus and the Orange Line. He said he has no idea how he is going to get to work Wednesday. A cab ride, he said, would put him back $53. | |
| “It’s definitely going to impact my life,” said Harris, who works in maintenance. “I have no idea how I’m going to get to work tomorrow.” | |
| Heather Bodenhamer, 24, was not surprised by the news of a Metro shutdown, given the transportation agency’s poor track record. | |
| “There were so many times I was late to work,” she said. “It’s sad how unreliable it can be. You never know what’s going to happen.” | |
| Bodenhamer said that during the past five years she’s experienced massive delays, smoke on the tracks and poor service all around. She used to travel from Rockville to Clarendon for work and had to leave her home two or three hours early in order to arrive to work on time due to daily Metro troubles. | |
| Metro officials offered no new details about the location or seriousness of Monday’s early-morning tunnel fire that snarled service on the Blue, Orange and Silver lines, but the incident was similar enough to January 2015 smoke calamity that it raised concerns among Metro officials that it could happen again. In that incident, an electrical malfunction on tracks near L’Enfant Plaza filled a tunnel with smoke, engulfing a stalled Yellow Line train in fumes. Scores of passengers were sickened and one died of respiratory failure. | |
| “The investigation into yesterday’s cable fire at McPherson Square is ongoing,” Wiedefeld said. “As a preliminary matter, the conditions appear disturbingly similar to those in the L’Enfant incident of a year ago, and our focus is squarely on mitigating any risk of a fire elsewhere on the system.” | |
| An official in D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s office said she was alerted to the impending shutdown “in the 3 o’clock hour” and had little advance warning before news of the decision leaked publicly. “Obviously, we’re very disappointed,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal statement from the mayor was forthcoming. | An official in D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s office said she was alerted to the impending shutdown “in the 3 o’clock hour” and had little advance warning before news of the decision leaked publicly. “Obviously, we’re very disappointed,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal statement from the mayor was forthcoming. |
| D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) and chair of the council’s transportation committee said she received no official warning and learned of the news from the Internet. | D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) and chair of the council’s transportation committee said she received no official warning and learned of the news from the Internet. |
| “The problem sounds mysterious and maybe this is a fairly dramatic step, but maybe it’s the kind of step that we need to get things right,” Cheh said. “I told the people in my office, ‘break out your bikes.’” | “The problem sounds mysterious and maybe this is a fairly dramatic step, but maybe it’s the kind of step that we need to get things right,” Cheh said. “I told the people in my office, ‘break out your bikes.’” |
| So far, no local school systems have announced any closures related to the shutdown but some officials expressed concern over how their teachers and other employees might get to work. | So far, no local school systems have announced any closures related to the shutdown but some officials expressed concern over how their teachers and other employees might get to work. |
| This is the first non-weather-related shutdown of the rail system. | |
| Wiedefeld said cables throughout the system were inspected last year and 125 were replaced. The cable that burned Monday was inspected as part of that earlier review and passed. | |
| The inspection work requires inspectors to be on the ground close to the third rail, which provides power to the system. It could be done without a complete shutdown but the work would take more time, Wiedefeld said. | |
| “The most prudent thing is to close down the system and find out what we’re dealing with,” said Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans. “I am not willing to take a chance.” | |
| Aaron C. Davis, Faiz Siddiqui and Paul Duggan contributed to this report. | |
| Read more: | Read more: |
| D.C.’s Metro is the No. 1 transit system. Yes, you read that right. | D.C.’s Metro is the No. 1 transit system. Yes, you read that right. |
| How people reacted to the Metro shutdown news on Twitter | |
| The closure is a ‘gut punch’ to Maryland and Virginia lawmakers | |
| All D.C. public schools absenses will count as excused on Wednesday | |
| The biggest Metro meltdowns in the past four years | The biggest Metro meltdowns in the past four years |