Metro News Release
For immediate release: December 20, 2009
Ice proving to be Metro's biggest challenge on roads, rails
Limited Metrobus, MetroAccess service expected Monday; Metro staff continue to clear above-ground tracks for Monday opening
Ice and snow continued to hamper Metro’s ability to provide rail, bus and paratransit service on Sunday and icy conditions are likely to play an equally large role in impacting service levels on Monday, December 21.
Ice restricted Metrobus service to a limited number of bus routes on Sunday and eventually caused buses to be pulled from the roads by 7 p.m. when bus supervisors deemed the roads to be unsafe for Metrobus operators to continue to drive in those conditions. Metrobus operators began to report to supervisors that their buses were starting to slide with increasing frequency on roadways, signaling unsafe conditions.
Bus supervisors will be monitoring street conditions throughout the region Sunday night into Monday morning to make decisions on how best to offer safe bus service to start on Monday. Bus officials have been in touch with the local departments of transportation to let officials in the local jurisdictions know where some of the biggest challenges exist for providing bus service in hopes that those areas can be cleared of snow and treated for icy conditions to allow for safe bus passage.
Bus riders are advised to be extra cautious when boarding and alighting buses as most bus stops are blocked by mounds of snow. The piles of snow can sometimes cause people to slip and fall under a bus.
The icy road conditions also resulted in the cancellation of MetroAccess paratransit service Sunday. MetroAccess service for Monday will operate only from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for customers whose trips are associated with life-sustaining medical needs such as chemotherapy and dialysis. If MetroAccess customer trips do not fall in that category, their trips will be cancelled automatically. MetroAccess customers also will receive an automated call if their trips are cancelled.
Metrobus and MetroAccess officials will be monitoring road conditions constantly with an eye toward expanding service levels and when conditions improve.
Metro officials will continue to work throughout the night to be able to open as many above-ground Metrorail stations as possible. The goal is to have all stations open by morning. Metro staff continue to make progress in clearing the above-ground tracks, however there have been reports of some re-icing of the electrified third rail as the temperatures drop and the winds are blowing snow back onto the tracks. De-icing equipment will continue to work along the tracks overnight.
Metro has 86 stations and 106-miles of track. Forty-seven stations along 50.5 miles of track are located underground and 39 stations along 55.5 miles of track are above ground.
The Metrorail system was predominantly limited to underground service on Sunday, with one segment of the Yellow Line and one stretch of the Red Line reopening for above-ground service in the late afternoon (4 p.m.) and mid evening (8 p.m.) respectively.
Six-car trains will be the norm on Monday as demand for service is not expected to be as high as a typical Monday due to the large volume of governmental agencies, area schools, businesses and other organizations that have already announced that they will be closed to start the work-week.
Metro’s Red Line from Shady Grove Metrorail station to Union Station reopened Sunday at 8 p.m. The five additional stations that opened in that stretch were Shady Grove, Rockville, Twinbrook, White Flint and Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail stations. Metro officials reopened the Yellow Line Bridge over the Potomac River at 4 p.m. Sunday connecting L’Enfant Plaza, Archives/Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter, Gallery Place-Chinatown and Mt. Vernon Sq./Convention Center Metrorail stations to the Pentagon, Crystal City and Pentagon City.
Clearing the above-ground tracks is a process that takes several steps. The heavy duty diesel-powered equipment, known as prime movers, clear the majority of the snow from the two non-electrified tracks. Once they are finished doing their job on the service tracks, they shift their focus into the rail yards, where hundreds of trains and miles of additional tracks remain under more than a foot of snow. More railcars are needed for weekday commuters than are needed for weekend service, so it is crucial that the rail yards are cleared.
Dozens of railcars were stored in the underground tunnels Friday and Saturday nights to keep them free of snow and ice, however hundreds of railcars had to be stored in the rail yards, where they remain buried. Trains will continue to be stored underground Sunday night.
Once the prime movers are off the rails then trains equipped with de-icing equipment run on the tracks to ensure that the electrified third rail is clear of snow and ice. These trains apply a de-icing agent and they make several sweeps of the tracks. For that reason they are referred to as “polishers.” The next step to prepare the tracks for service is to clear the snow and ice from interlockings or switches, which allow trains to switch tracks, reverse direction or turn around. For instance, if a train becomes disabled, the trains behind the disabled train can only move around it by switching tracks at an interlocking. If the interlockings are not clear of the snow and ice, there is no way to maneuver around disabled trains.
Road conditions thwarted the efforts of many Metro employees who had difficulty reporting to work on Sunday. In some instances, supervisors in SUVs drove to the homes of employees to pick them up and take them to their worksites. More than 100 bus operators who were originally scheduled to work Sunday called in to report that they were not able to report either because they were unable to drive to the bus garages or because they called in sick. More than 100 train operators and station managers also did not report for duty Sunday for the same reasons. If road conditions do not improve, staffing levels may be a challenge for Metro on Monday as employees again may be unable to report for duty.
Metrorail employees and contractors who were able to get to their worksites were working throughout the night Saturday and will to continue to work throughout the night on Sunday to clear the rails of ice and snow and to clear platforms, sidewalks, parking facilities and pathways to rail stations. In addition to the tracks, employees and contractors have been focusing on clearing the entrance areas of underground stations, including shoveling of snow off of exposed escalators, many of which have come to a halt due to packed ice and snow in moving parts. Many escalators were stopped by the heavy snow and ice. Rail customers are encouraged to use station elevators from the street into and out of the station when possible.
Customers can expect to see surface parking facilities piled with snow, consuming approximately 15 percent of the spaces where vehicles usually park. The top level of parking decks also are expected to have large snow piles on them as more of those surfaces are cleared. Parking lot clearing also will continue throughout Sunday night. On Monday night contractors will begin to haul away those piles of snow.
Customers are advised to be on the lookout for “black ice” on paved surfaces, which is often difficult to spot.
How to get Updates on Winter Weather Conditions
There are a variety of ways for customers to stay informed about Metro service levels. Metro constantly updates local news media of Metro service changes. Information is also available on Metro’s home page at www.metroopensdoors.com. Customers can also subscribe to e-Alerts and receive up-to-date service disruption information on Metrorail and MetroAccess. Due to the high volume of calls, waits for a customer service agent at Metro’s Customer Service call center were lengthy on Sunday and may continue to be longer than usual on Monday.
News release issued at 10:31 pm, December 20, 2009.