15 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 3/22:

 

Dr. Gridlock

After shutdown, Metro riders ask what’s next

 

By Robert Thomson

 

Many commuters sensed that last week’s Metrorail shutdown signaled a new era in our local transit history, but weren’t sure whether it was cause for hope or despair.

 

They used my online chat on Monday to vent about conditions in the rail system and also to consider what comes next in the slow process of rebuilding Metrorail. Even in an hour and a half, we didn’t cover all of the riders themes, so here are a few of their additional comments, with my responses.

 

Is another shutdown likely?
Do you think that Metro will need to shut down again sometime soon? Would you be surprised if they discovered another issue that would require immediate action like last week’s incident did? And if so what do you recommend they do to avoid the overcrowding on buses and general disarray while the trains are shut down?

 

DG: I think if Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld found another credible threat to rider safety, he’d respond in the same way. But consider also that the conditions he was dealing with one week ago were quite specific. Wiedefeld reacted after he was informed that the same type of power cable implicated in the fatal smoke incident of Jan. 12, 2015, was involved in the tunnel fire near McPherson Square.

 

Robert Thomson is The Washington Post’s “Dr. Gridlock.” He answers travelers’ questions, listens to their complaints and shares their pain on the roads, trains and buses in the Washington region.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 3/23:
 

Metro can’t just spend its way out of this mess

 

By Robert Thomson

 

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

Do you think that the traffic [during the March 16 Metrorail shutdown] might force the politicians in Virginia, Maryland and the District to realize that they need to spend some money to keep Metro from falling apart because of a lack of maintenance?

 

If they don’t realize this fact, then I am glad I no longer depend on a car for transportation. I also hope that Congress might be forced to realize that money must be spent on a nationwide effort to stop America from following Metro’s problems. They just need to look at the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which is in danger of being turned into a pedestrian-only structure.

 

[Memorial Bridge needs $250 million for repairs]

 

Countries all over the world are spending billions of dollars to build new transportation networks and rebuild existing ones, while Congress pretends that our nation’s infrastructure can last forever. Their lack of action is going to turn our great country into a third-class country without a workable national transportation system.

 

George Bogart, Alexandria

 

DG: No, the unprecedented closing of Metrorail for inspections and repairs won’t lead to a dramatic increase in support for fixing our transportation system, locally or nationally.

 

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 7:24 PM EDT 3/30:
 

Metro could shut down entire rail lines to do extended maintenance, board chair says

 

Metro’s top officials warned Wednesday that the transit system is in such need of repair that they might shut down entire rail lines for as long as six months for maintenance, potentially snarling thousands of daily commutes and worsening congestion in the already traffic-clogged region.

 

Board Chairman Jack Evans and General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld put rail riders on notice about possible extended closures at a high-level conference of local leaders. The discussion also revealed strong resistance to what Evans said was a “dire” need for more than $1 billion a year in additional funding for Metro.

 

The officials’ comments underlined the depth of Metro’s problems, which are steadily becoming more apparent as Wiedefeld continues to probe the rail system’s defects since he took over as the transit agency’s chief executive in November.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Wow.  Well I'd hope that the Silver Line in Virginia being fairly new would be in better shape than the older sections of the system, and thus not require a shutdown.  But it also runs through some of the sytem's oldest segments where it is interlined with the Orange and Blue Lines.

[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 3/31:

 

U.S. senators push for $150 million in WMATA funding

Democratic senators from Maryland and Virginia are requesting that the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) receive $150 million in federal dollars in fiscal-year 2017, as the troubled transit agency struggles to correct safety problems.

U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called on members of Congress to fully fund WMATA at authorized levels next year. In a March 18 letter — made public yesterday — to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Committee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the senators said that WMATA's recent safety challenges demonstrated how much work remains to correct the agency's problems.

"This is a vital transportation issue with direct implications on the effectiveness and efficiency of the federal government and the entire Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, and is important to growing U.S. manufacturing and transit infrastructure development. WMATA's compact jurisdictions are committed to providing 50 percent matching funding," the senators wrote.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

WMATA email, 2:34 pm 3/31:
 

A message to customers from Metro GM/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld

 

 Dear Metro Customer,

 

In response to questions I have seen from many of you, I want to let you know that I am working on a long-range maintenance plan for the rail system to ensure safe and reliable service. The plan is in development now, and I expect to have it ready in 4-6 weeks. I want to reassure you that, while I am keeping options open on how to proceed, no decisions have been made. Moreover, any service change in the plan that could affect your commute will receive ample notice to customers, businesses, stakeholders and the region as a whole.

 

You have my commitment that I will keep you informed once the plan is ready. In the meantime, I will advise you if there are any steps that must be taken on a priority basis to keep the rail system running safely and reliably.

 

Sincerely,

 

Paul J. Wiedefeld

Metro General Manager/CEO

 

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 3/31:
 

D.C. region’s leaders hate idea of lengthy Metro closings — but they could tolerate it

 

The Washington region’s political leaders expressed grave reservations Thursday about the possibility that Metro might shut rail lines for months at a time for repairs, and Fairfax County officials said outright that they would oppose a prolonged stoppage.

 

But most state and local leaders in Virginia, Maryland and the District said they could accept extended closures if they were well planned and truly necessary.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 4/1:

 

Column
 

Don’t destroy Metrorail in order to save it

 

By Robert Thomson

 

The biggest customer service decision made by Richard Sarles when he was Metro general manager was to launch a rebuilding campaign concentrated on weekends and hours when the rail system was closed.

 

Five years later, his successor, Paul J. Wiedefeld, is on the verge of a similarly significant decision about whether to change the strategy.

 

SNIP

 

The current strategy developed without a lot of public discussion in the aftermath of the 2009 Red Line crash. At a Metro board committee meeting in March 2011, board members did discuss the possibility of shutting entire lines. Then-board member Marcel Acosta, who had been a senior executive with the Chicago Transit Authority, said: “In Chicago, we made a very difficult decision to shut down an entire rail line for two years.”

 

SNIP

 

Commuters got through the one-day shutdown for the emergency safety inspections in March because enough of them can adjust their work plans. But they still cannot make a long-term habit out of altering their commuting styles.

 

Wiedefeld knows that. His task is to come up with a new strategy that can speed up the rebuilding without seriously slowing the commute.

 

More here.

[KevinKorell]

“In Chicago, we made a very difficult decision to shut down an entire rail line for two years.”

This article goes on to say that there are not many alternatives. In Chicago, assuming that they were talking about the southern end of the Red Line, where the Dan Ryan segment was completely rebuilt from the ground up, there was the nearby Green Line and some commuter rail lines that could take up some of the slack. I believe that Chicago previous to that also closed portions of the Green Line, at which time the Red Line was available relatively close by on the southern end.

And the interlining is an issue too. If you have to rebuild the downtown portions of Washington's trunk line that carries the Orange, Blue, and Silver Lines, you're affecting all three lines. Blue Line passengers from Virginia could be routed much like the Rush Plus Yellow Line customers over the bridge, but Orange and Silver Line passengers don't have much other choice.

[CNJRoss]

 

“In Chicago, we made a very difficult decision to shut down an entire rail line for two years.”

.  .  .   assuming that they were talking about the southern end of the Red Line, where the Dan Ryan segment was completely rebuilt from the ground up,  .  .  .

 

This is referring the mid-90's CTA Green Line rebuilding.

 

There was serious consideration given to demolishing the line due to the advanced deterioration of the elevated structure.  The service would have been "replaced" with the parallel Red Line (Dan Ryan branch) and bus service.  Community outcry resulted in a 2+ year service suspension and rebuilding of the line.  Chicago "L".org  has the sordid details (slide down to "Green Line Closes for Rehabilitation"). 

 

Note the section about the "Univeristy-to-Dorchester" segment which was demolished without ever being put in service!  This would have provided a connection with the Metra Electric line.

 

StreetsBlog Chicago recently reported "over the past 17 years"

(Ridership) Losses on the Green Line’s East 63rd and Ashland/63rd branches aren’t surprising, considering the significant amount of housing demolitions and population exodus that took place in Englewood and Woodlawn during the last decade.

 

-Ross