Metro News Release
For immediate release: October 27, 2010
Metrorail opening early Sunday morning
System opening at 5 a.m. Sunday for Marine Corps Marathon
On Sunday, October 31, 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 or Yellow lines to catch their bus.
The race begins at 8:15 a.m. and will end late Sunday afternoon. For security reasons, the Arlington Cemetery Metrorail station entrance will open after the start of the race.
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 will have to wait in long lines to get back into the rail stations.
On race day, Metro will operate additional Blue Line trains between 5 and 9 a.m., and again from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 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.
The organizers paid Metro in advance for the early opening.
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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News release issued at 9:35 am, October 27, 2010.