Metro Apologizes for Monday Morning Chaos

Thousands of commuters were inconvenienced Monday after smoke was reported in the Metro tunnel between the Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom stops.

WMATA released a letter of apology Monday afternoon to its riders, after smoke in a metro tunnel at its Rosslyn station impacted riders on the Silver, Blue and Orange lines.

Here is the Metro letter in full:

To our Blue, Orange and Silver line customers - Monday, May 11, 2015

Metro apologizes for the significant delays, crowding and inconvenience many of you experienced this morning. Shortly before 8 a.m., Metro’s Operations Control Center received a report of smoke in the tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom stations. For your safety, both tracks were taken out of service while appropriate fire department personnel, along with Metro response crews, investigated and rectified the issue.

Please know that the actions taken this morning were with your safety as our highest priority. Despite the fact that there was no significant smoke in any station, Blue, Orange and Silver line service was suspended between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom out of caution, resulting in significant delays in service on all three lines.

We established limited shuttle bus service as an alternative, and ran a shuttle train between Rosslyn and Pentagon, enabling some riders to switch to the Yellow Line. Despite these alternatives, we know that many of you experienced extremely long, crowded trips this morning.

Rail service was restored shortly after 11 a.m. on a single track following the replacement of multiple third-rail insulators that were showing signs of electrical sparking (known as “arcing”). Additional repairs required that parts be brought to the location from Maryland, further contributing to the length of our response. We expect to have these repairs completed by mid-afternoon, with normal two-track service in time for this evening’s rush hour.

Again, we sincerely apologize for your experience this morning. Should you wish to share feedback with us, please contact Metro Customer Service at (202) 637-1328 or online at wmata.com/contactus.