Metro News Release

For immediate release: January 28, 2005

Temporary fix applied to cracked rail at Van Dorn Street Metorail station

Update as of 9:30 a.m.

Metrorail customers headed downtown from Franconia-Springfield are experiencing minor delays this morning as a result of a cracked rail that was discovered mon an outbound track at 7:09 a.m. at the Van Dorn Street Metrorail station on the Blue Line. The crack triggered a signal that alerted Metro officials of the problem. Track inspectors were dispatched to confirm the problem, assess the damage and begin the repairs.

By 9:20 a.m. a temporary repair was in place and trains were permitted to ride on the damaged area of track at restricted speeds. The temporary repair was made to allow customers to get through the morning rush period. The permanent repair is expected to begin in mid-morning at which time single-tracking will resume around the incident.

The repair involves workers cutting out the damaged piece of track and replacing it with a new piece, then testing to ensure that the repair is strong and safe before allowing trains to use the repaired section again. Initial projections are that the permanent repair will be completed ths afternoon. Regular service is expected for the afternoon rush hour.

Initially inbound trains were single tracking from Franconia-Springfield and service was altered to arrange two inbound trains for every one outbound train since the demand for morning service was inbound. As a result of the single-tracking, trips took somewhat longer to pass through the area in both directions and Blue Line trains were more crowded.

News release issued on January 28, 2005.