Metro News Release
For immediate release: October 20, 2009
Metrorail to open at 5 a.m. Sunday for Marine Corps Marathon
Street closures to impact 24 bus routes on Arlington and District Roads
On Sunday, October 25, Metro will open at 5 a.m., two hours earlier than usual, for the Marine Corps Marathon.
Due to the marathon route, Metrobuses that normally use the Pentagon Transit Center on Sunday will be relocated to the Pentagon City Metrorail station between 4 a.m. and 4 p.m. Customers who normally travel to the Pentagon Metrorail station and transfer to a Metrobus will need to ride to the Pentagon City Metrorail station on the Blue and Yellow lines to catch their bus.
The event is causing a total of 24 Metrobus routes in Virginia and the District of Columbia to be rerouted.
The following Metrobus routes will be impacted: 32, 34, 36, 52, 54, 64, 70, D6, P6, V8, 3A, 3E, 4B, 5A, 7A, 9A, 10A, 13F, 13G, 16B, 16P, 23A, 25A and 38B.
The race begins at 8:15 a.m. and will end late Sunday afternoon.
More than 30,000 runners, volunteers, and spectators are expected to use the Metrorail system to get to the race. Metro expects the most heavily used stations will be the Rosslyn Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines, Arlington Cemetery on the Blue Line, and the Pentagon Metrorail station on the Blue and Yellow lines. Customers can expect crowded conditions, especially after the race as people are likely to find long lines to get back into the rail stations.
On race day, Metro will operate additional Blue Line trains between 5 and 8:15 a.m., and again from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Blue Line trains will operate every 7 ½ minutes between the Franconia-Springfield and Stadium-Armory Metrorail stations. All Blue Line trains will continue to leave the Largo Town Center Metrorail station every 15 minutes.
Metro encourages race participants to use a SmarTrip card or a plastic cover to protect their farecard. In previous years, race participants have had their farecards damaged while participating in the race after they became covered in moisture.
For more information on Metrorail and Metrobus, customers are encouraged to call (202) 637-7000, TTY (202) 638-3780, or visit Metro=s Web site at www.metroopensdoors.com.
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Media contact for this news release: Steven Taubenkibel or Lisa Farbstein at 202-962-1051.
For all other inquiries, please call customer service at 202-637-7000.
News release issued at 11:00 am, October 20, 2009.