Metro News Release

For immediate release: February 6, 2010

Metrorail to close at 11 p.m. Saturday

Safety of employees and light ridership drive decision

Metrorail will close at 11 p.m. instead of 3 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6, due to rising concern about employees’ ability to get to and from work safely, and because of light ridership throughout the day.

“Safety is our top priority as we recover from the storm. We need to make sure that our operations personnel who were able to report to work today get the needed time off between shifts so that when they report to work tomorrow, they can perform their jobs safely,” said Metro Acting Deputy General Manager Dave Kubicek.

Road conditions have thwarted the efforts of many Metro employees who had difficulty reporting to work. In some instances, supervisors in SUVs drove to the homes of employees to pick them up and take them to their worksites. If road conditions do not improve, staffing levels may be a challenge for Metro on Sunday and Monday as employees again may be unable to report for duty.

Aiding Metro’s decision to close at midnight is the light ridership reported throughout the day. In addition, Metro learned that the 7 p.m. Washington Wizards game at the Verizon Center has been cancelled. At 3 p.m., Metrorail riders had taken approximately 27,000 trips. On a typical Saturday, Metrorail ridership averages 300,000.

Metro has 86 stations and 106-miles of track. Forty-six stations along 50.5 miles of track are underground and 40 stations along 55.5 miles of track are above ground. The Metrorail system opened at 7 a.m. today (Saturday, Feb. 6) with service to the system’s 46 underground stations. Trains are running every 30 minutes on all lines as follows:

Yellow Line – Pentagon to Crystal City
Red Line – Medical Center to Union Station, and Glenmont to Forest Glen
Orange Line – Ballston to Stadium-Armory
Green Line – Fort Totten to Congress Heights
Blue Line – Ballston to Stadium-Armory


How to get Updates on Winter Weather Conditions
There are a variety of ways for customers to stay informed during a major storm. 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.

News release issued at 4:45 pm, February 6, 2010.