Metro News Release

For immediate release: July 5, 2006

Metro Carried 451,623 Passengers on July 4

The fireworks on the National Mall brought out the crowds as Metrorail carried a total of 451,623 passengers yesterday. Metrorail service began at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and ended at midnight.

In an unusual occurrence, approximately 100 passengers on a Yellow Line train to Franconia-Springfield were safely evacuated from their train to another train south of the Van Dorn Street Metrorail station after a Virginia Dominion Power electrical cable that fell onto the tracks at 3:22 p.m., became entangled beneath the train. Once the evacuation was completed, Yellow Line trains single-tracked between Franconia-Springfield and Van Dorn Street until full service was restored at 5:11 p.m.

Due to yesterday’s severe thunderstorms, the Forest Glen Metrorail station on the Red Line lost power and was temporarily closed from 4:41 p.m. to 5:51 p.m. Metro operated four shuttle buses between the Silver Spring and Wheaton Metrorail stations carrying 47 passengers. Station lighting also was impacted by the storms at the Prince George’s Planza and Rockville Metrorail stations, but service was not interrupted.

Upon completion of the fireworks, Metrobus operated free shuttle service from the L’Enfant Plaza Metrorail station to the Pentagon carrying 1,650 customers.

                                          July 4th Ridership

Year                           Ridership                         Day
2006                          451,623                            Tuesday
2005                          541,101                            Monday
2004                          363,280                            Sunday
2003                          536,832                            Friday
2002                          356,673                            Thursday
2001                          486,256                            Wednesday
2000                          582,450                            Tuesday
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News release issued on July 5, 2006.