Metro corrects the Washinton Post?
I was recently made aware of this rebuttal by WMATA of the reporting by the Washington Post on an incident in 2005. It is quite interesting to see the line by line corrections. I wonder if the Post has any comment?
New method for dealing with malfunctioning AC in Metro (wmata) cars?
Yesterday at the Van Ness Metro Station I noticed what appears to be a new technique for WMATA. If the AC in one of the cars stops functioning they are now “isolating” that car. Yesterday they had everyone in a car with non-functioning air conditioning move out of the car and into another one. Now while this crowds the car that everyone moves into. I’d say it’s better to be cool and crowded than hot and angry right?
Some good things about Metro
Sure we all love to get on WMATA’s case about the Metro bus and rail systems. Yet one has to also realize that there are indeed some good things about Metro. The Metro rail system has got to be one of the cleanest in the country. Also, the rats are way smaller (ever seen the huge ones on the NYC Subway?). The fact that WMATA doesn’t allow food and drinks on the system is good I think.
Any other good things?
Fire Catoe?
WTOP News wrote an article about a new online petition calling for the dismissal of WMATA General Manager John Catoe Jr.
The last few months have been a nightmare for Metro.The transit agency has seen the deadliest accident in its history, has had a number of bus and train operators suspended and reprimanded for being distracted while operating their vehicles, and has seen a 21-year veteran killed on the job, among other recent incidents.
Now, there is a push to remove Metro General Manager John Catoe from his position as the head of the agency.
I’m not one to be too quick to lay all the fault at Catoe’s doorstep. I think a lot of it has to do with WMATA not getting the federal funding it needs.
This is what DC Councilman Jim Graham had to say:
The head of Metro’s Board of Directors, Jim Graham, characterized Catoe this way in March:
“I find John Catoe to be absolutely masterful in representing and navigating all of these waters that he finds himself in,” Graham told WTOP.
“This is one of the toughest transit jobs in the United States for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is the competing jurisdictional interest. John Catoe is heaven-sent, and I mean that.”
I’m not defending Mr. Catoe Jr. at all. What I think needs to happen is for an investigator outside of the agency to come in and look at WMATA from top to bottom and make recommendaitons that will be enforced to the letter. Although one has to wonder what WMATA’s Office of the Inspector General has been up to.
Summer of Strange: Person hit by train (WMATA) Orange Line
The Washington Post is reporting that a person was struck at the West Falls Church (Orange Line) station.
Metro officials say that rescuers are at the West Falls Church-VT/UVA station. The person, whose condition is unavailable, was apparently hit at 11:18 a.m., Metro said. It was a six-car Orange Line train headed toward New Carrollton. The person was apparently on the tracks when the train pulled into the station.
How did they end up on the tracks?
Update: It would appear that the man has now died from his being struck by the train. No report on why he was on the tracks in the first place however.
Stand clear train moving?
- WMATA Motorman on Redline: Dupont Circle...
- ***People wait for doors to open then get ready to exit the train..***
- ***Train then moves jolting people....***
- ***I hate when they do that....***
One ten car train to rule them all
It would appear one Metro employee was experimenting with train cars (among other things) a little too much.
A Metro employee tested positive for drugs as part of an investigation into why a Green Line train that passed through five stations in late July was put together with too many cars to fit on station platforms, The Examiner has learned.
The 10-car train, which left Greenbelt at 4:50 p.m. July 31, was south of Fort Totten about 20 minutes later when the operator was told by a passenger via the intercom that there were two additional cars at the back of the train, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. Metro’s platforms were designed to handle nothing longer than eight-car trains.
Well knowing that only eight cars are supported answers one question I had about the system. But it seems that this summer has become a nightmare for WMATA.
The escalators of August
So what’s worse than a 90 plus degree day in The District? How about walking up one of the long escalators at the Dupont Circle station’s south exit. On my way home and taking the down escalator I saw people walking up in the heat and actually felt bad for them. Both up escalators were not working.
It makes one wonder what takes an escalator off line? Are they that tempermental? I ask this because you often see them not working within the system. How old are the escalators in the Metro system? What would it cost to replace them all if they are too old?
Funny WMATA Bus Photo - Obviously @mazzie does not remember the movie Speed! :)
Metro (WMATA) worker killed near Vienna
Unfortunate news especially when so much has been going wrong for WMATA this summer.
A veteran Metro employee was struck and killed by a piece of track equipment near the Vienna station on the Orange Line Sunday night, Metro officials said.
The incident occurred about 9:50 p.m. during scheduled track maintenance work near the station in Fairfax County.
I’m not sure that people realize the danger that transit workers face working any rail system.
The track repairman, a Metro employee for about 25 years, was working with a crew replacing cross ties when he was hit by a ballast regulator, a piece of equipment that rides on the rails, Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said early Monday. The equipment deposits and spreads the stone or gravel known as ballast upon which the cross ties and rails rest, particularly in outdoor parts of the system. The ballast provides drainage and stability.
It’s a dangerous job working on the tracks. I only hope that they are provided with every means possible to protect themselves. I don’t know what the case was with this horrific accident though. It appears that WMATA is going to have to investigate.
