Metro News Release

For immediate release: June 11, 2008

Major delays on the Orange Line will continue through the evening due to kink in rail

Metro riders can expect major delays on the Orange Line this evening due to a heat “kink” in the rails that was discovered at 3:15 p.m. between the East Falls Church and Ballston-MU Metrorail stations. A heat kink is a bend in the rails due to high temperatures.

Orange Line trains are currently sharing a single track between East Falls Church and Ballston-MU stations. Passengers should expect delays of 30 minutes or more.

Free Metro shuttle buses are running between the Ballston and Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metrorail stations to help passengers get around the incident. The buses are stopping at Ballston-MU, East Falls Church, West Falls Church-VT/UVA, Dunn Loring-Merrifield and Vienna. In addition, passengers are able to take Metrobus routes 38B and 24P to downtown at no charge.

Passengers can expect long waits of at least 30 minutes for buses, as buses carry about 60 passengers, compared to 800 on a six-car Metrorail train. In addition, the buses are traveling through rush hour traffic along busy roads.

News release issued at 5:21 pm, June 11, 2008.