From: John Salatti
[mailto:john.salatti@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 6:42 PM
Subject: Fwd: All Metrorail service will be suspended Wednesday, March
16, for emergency inspections
Hi Scott,
I wouldn't generally forward
Metro announcements, but this one is important enough to make sure you've seen
it and can pass it along to the country if you haven't.
All the best,
John
Begin forwarded message:
All Metrorail service will be
suspended Wednesday, March 16, for emergency inspections
All Metrorail service will be suspended Wednesday, March 16,
for emergency inspections
Metro
General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld, with support from the Authority's Board
of Directors, today announced the full closure of the Metrorail system on
Wednesday, March 16, for emergency inspections of the system's third-rail power
cables following an early morning tunnel fire yesterday.
The
inspections of approximately 600 "jumper cables" will occur along all
tunnel segments on the Metrorail system. At the conclusion of the
inspection process, there may be a need for additional rail service outages.
Any further service impacts will be announced to the public as soon
as they are known.
"While
the risk to the public is very low, I cannot rule out a potential life safety
issue here, and that is why we must take this action immediately,"
Wiedefeld said. "When I say safety is our highest priority, I mean it.
That sometimes means making tough, unpopular decisions, and this is one of
those times. I fully recognize the hardship this will cause."
The Metrorail system will close at its normal time
tonight (midnight) and remain closed until 5 a.m. Thursday. All six Metrorail
lines and all 91 stations will be closed on Wednesday.
The
unprecedented action follows an early morning electrical fire involving a cable
in the tunnel outside McPherson Square Station yesterday. There were no
injuries; however, service was disrupted along the Blue, Orange and Silver
lines throughout the day.
“The investigation
into yesterday’s cable fire at McPherson Square is ongoing," Wiedefeld said. “As a preliminary
matter, the conditions appear disturbingly similar to those in the L’Enfant
incident of a year ago, and our focus is squarely on mitigating any risk of a
fire elsewhere on the system.”
Metrobus
and MetroAccess service will continue to operate on a regular
schedule. Alternate service options throughout the region will be
extremely limited, and severe crowding is expected on buses. The public is
advised to make alternate travel arrangements as early as possible.
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