Frustrated commuters voiced loud criticism of D.C. Metro Tuesday after smoke filled a crowded orange line station in Arlington, and red and blue line passengers were hit with another morning of unscheduled delays.
Commuters on the orange line reported smoke, apparently caused by an escalator fire, which spread through the Rosslyn station and filled an orange line train. A separate issue forced red line trains to single track Tuesday, causing another morning of massive delays after a track fire over the weekend forced an evacuation of passengers from inside the tunnel. Riders are also reporting major delays on the Metro’s blue line Tuesday.
“Red line is chaos,” one commuter tweeted, joining riders across the District Tuesday who reported problems and voicing complaints about the Metro system.
One rider says he saw sparks fly on the tracks near the tunnel on the red line. Track fires have been a persistent issue for the Metro, killing a passenger in 2015 after a railcar filled with smoke.
Metro Chairman Jack Evans, a D.C. Council member, said Monday dangerous events will be a regular occurrence in the Metro system unless Congress and local governments hand over billions of dollars in additional funding.
“It won’t be fine,” Evans told WTOP. “Until this region finally gets it through their head that this system needs a real, real overhaul, then we’re going to continue to have incidents like this.”
The Federal Transit Authority took control of Metro oversight last fall, marking a first for any national transit system. Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld is expected to roll out a comprehensive plan to fix the Metro over the next two years, which is expected to cause major future delays for commuters.
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