Think Arlington Isn't Affected by New Safetrack 'Surge'? Think Again

After two weeks of headaches and confusion, the first of Metro's Safetrack "Surges" to deal with chronic safety problems throughout the Metro rail system is finally over -- but sadly, Arlington residents, your headaches will continue anyway.

Even though the second SafeTrack surge involves shutting down the Potomac Avenue and Stadium-Armory stations all the way on the east side of the District, the problem for you is that you're going to feel the effects anyway.

In addition to the fact that Orange and Silver line trains will be running every 10 minutes no matter where you are on either line, Metro is warning in the video above that all Orange, Silver and Blue line trains will be crowded, especially during rush hour.

"Expect significantly longer wait times at all OR SV stations," the video states. Once again, WMATA is imploring people to just avoid using the system altogether if they can, urging riders to seek "alternate travel options."

It reveals an unfortunate truth for riders in Arlington and anyone else who uses Metro: for the next year as SafeTrack continues and Surges go into effect, there will be very few times when the Metro system won't be causing problems for you, even if the Surge isn't in your immediate area.

This Surge will continue until Sunday, July 3.

Metro officials have implemented the SafeTrack plan over numerous smoke and fire incidents throughout the rail system, which resulted in the death of a woman at L'Enfant Plaza last year. When a 24-hour system-wide shutdown didn't work earlier this year to address the issue, Metro officials decided to implement the year-long SafeTrack plan.