5.28.2008

Metro Potpourri

Would just like to note that I have been late to work the last two days due to Metro chicanery.

Yesterday I was on the S-line and the bus driver stopped short. Two people went flying. I am proud to say I was one of them. I was leaning down to pick up a bag when I went flying. Thankfully, some very nice citizens caught me and prevented me from face planting. Thanks, citizens!

The other person who lunged forward wasn't so lucky. She bonked her collarbone pretty hard. The driver had to call an ambulance. So that bus went out of service.

Today, I was on the Red Line towards Farragut North. I had a primo standing spot by the door. You know those spots where you can lean on the plexiglass? I love those. Anyways, after every stop, there was a noticeable brake odor. Burnt rubber. This isn't unusual so everyone ignored it.

Until Woodley Park. When the doors opened there, my fellow passengers and I noted that our train was on fire. Our car filled with smoke and, naturally, everyone had to be evacuated out. And waiting for another train in a smoke-filled Woodley Park is no picnic. By the time trains get there, they're almost always already packed to the gills.

Bonus: Now I smell like burnt rubber and have a headache from all the smoke inhalation.

And has anyone else noticed that the trains on the Red Line are coming five minutes apart again? Argh.
Posted by Rusty at 9:18 AM

9 comments:

  1. JeffMay 28, 2008

    Rusty and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? FREDTERP

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 28, 2008

    hey i smelled that smell last week, i was wondering what the source of it was. I think I was on the blue or red line also.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kristen S.May 28, 2008

    Try the Yellow line...trains every 7-8 minutes during rush hour, and they stop running the rush hour schedule at 8:50am!

    The Yellow line is the ugly stepchild of Metro.

    ReplyDelete
  4. JamesMay 28, 2008

    In fairness, these complaints from the last two posts seem a tad bitchy when you look at what happened in Chicago today, which I assume Rusty would call a "real city."

    We've gone a year here without a train actually crashing and sending more than a dozen to the hospital, right?

    ReplyDelete
  5. HRH King Friday XIII, Ret.May 29, 2008

    Classic.

    I think Metro is trying to kill you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 31, 2008

    Sometimes I'm so glad that starting next week I'll be working from my home, and when I live in DC I'll have my home office in Petworth. I love the Metro for some things over other subway transit systems, such as the Boston T, but I'm glad I won't have to rely on it for a commute.

    Still, I would say it's much better than Boston. Their red line... you could be waiting 15 minutes to a half an hour during RUSH HOUR between trains.

    I hear commuters here complaining about a 5 to 7 minute wait here in DC and that sounds WONDERFUL to me. Then again I'm like an abused child, with the Boston T as my mother... even though I am a DC native.

    Things could be worse, but I agree, I would like to not be set on fire.

    ReplyDelete
  7. James PuckettJune 02, 2008

    And I always thought that Red Line smell was from persistent electrical fires in the stations. Now I realize that the idiots driving Metro trains are just as bad as the idiots driving the buses.

    What does it take to just cancel all Metro Union contracts and bring in a merit based system?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Mystery GirlJuly 29, 2008

    5 minutes? Dude you're giving them too much credit. It's really like 7.

    http://rightinawrongway.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousSeptember 24, 2008

    This is fantastic. Someone who hates the Metro as much as I do. No surprise, that on Car Free Day, the Orange Line basically fell over and died during morning rush hour. Thanks WMATA. I appreciate the consistency with which you display your total incompetence.

    ReplyDelete

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