Metro News Release
For immediate release: March 25, 2008
Metro ready for Cherry Blossom Festival
Metrorail to open at 5 a.m. on Sunday, April 6, for the Cherry Blossom 10-mile race
As the 2008 National Cherry Blossom festival starts this weekend, Metro will have additional trains and staff available on the weekends, and will open two hours early at 5 a.m., on Sunday, April 6, for the Cherry Blossom 10-mile race.
Metrorail adds more rail cars for service
Metro recently added 10 rail cars to its weekday morning and afternoon peak service. These 10 rail cars allowed Metro to run an additional six-car train on the Green Line. The cars will remain in service during and after the festival.
Metro will operate six-car trains during the weekday, off-peak daytime hours to accommodate the expected crowds and will be prepared to use eight-car train, if necessary, on the weekends.
Metrorail to open at 5 a.m. on Sunday, April 6
Metrorail will open two hours early, at 5 a.m., on Sunday, April 6, for the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-mile race. The race begins at 7:45 a.m., and will start and finish at the Washington Monument grounds. The closest Metrorail stop is the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange Lines.
Customer tips
During the Cherry Blossom season, customers can do their part to help ensure that their trip is pleasant by remembering the following travel tips:
• Visitors should avoid traveling during the peak commuter periods from 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m., and are strongly encouraged to avoid traveling Metrorail at the height of the afternoon peak period, from 4 to 6 p.m.
• Visitors are encouraged to buy the $7.80 one-day Metrorail pass for multiple trips; the one-day pass can only be used after 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, and all day on weekends.
• Visitors can also buy a SmarTrip card, which is used on Metrorail and Metrobus, and is the only way to pay for parking at most Metro-operated lots. Customers can pay for parking with Discover, Mastercard, Visa, American Express or Japanese Credit Bank credit cards at five Metrorail stations, Anacostia, Franconia-Springfield, Largo Town Center, Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, Shady Grove and New Carrollton. Visitors can purchase a SmarTrip card from Metro’s Web site for $25 (with $20 of value on the card) or for $10 at any Metrorail station with a parking facility (with $5 of fare value on the card). SmarTrip cards can hold up to $300 of fare value.
• Regular commuters, especially those who work for the federal government and whose offices are in the vicinity of the Smithsonian Metrorail station, which is the most popular station for tourists arriving at the National Mall, are urged to stagger their arrival and departure times for work and use all downtown Metrorail stations.
• Regular commuters should allow extra time for travel, and are reminded when traveling on Metrorail to please walk into the center of the rail car and not block the rail car doors.
• Customers should stand back from the platform edge as trains approach the station.
The 96th Annual National Cherry Blossom Festival brochures are free and available at Metrorail stations. For more information on traveling by Metrobus and Metrorail, call (202) 637-7000, TDD (202) 638-3780, or visit Metro’s web site at www.metroopensdoors.com for safety and security tips.
News release issued at 10:05 am, March 25, 2008.