Metro Experiences? (Reston: contractor, earthquake, inspections)

[AnalyzeThis]

So, after 8 years of riding the metro, like many folks the decline in quality, reliability, safety, and increasing costs led me to seek alternate modes of transportation; and then I, fortunately, was able to get a job fairly close from home.

However, I've been offered a great opportunity that is primairily a telecommute position, but may require me to go into D.C. (McPherson Sq) 1-2 times a week. I have not rode on metro for three years and I know there is, supposedly, many changes that have occurred. I'm just looking for recent experiences from those that ride it routinely (atleast weekly) in terms of whether the recent changes has made a different in the ride.

Alternatively, what would be some other options to get into D.C. (Van Dorn to McPherson), with a flexible start time that isn't a horrendous commute? (<45 minutes). I was hoping to go to our L'Enfant facility, which would allow me to take VRE but I don't think that is happening.

[17thAndK]

Would you expect VRE not to have its own problems? 99% of Metro's difficulties have meanwhile had their roots in years of denied funding promoted by sociophobic TEA Party trolls. All these years, and there is STILL no dedicated source of Metro funding. Annual hat-in-hand begging is a poor choice in comparison for an operation that has so many long-term needs and costs. The situation here is criminal. If we want to see the return of the first class Metro system we started out with, we will have to return to paying for it. Meanwhile, the SafeTrack delays that plagued the system while three years worth of overdue maintenance were crammed into a single year came to an end back in June. I'm retired and rarely use the system anymore, but I wouldn't hesitate to board if I needed to get in and out of town.

[BOS2IAD]

^^^^I've got news for you. Track work is still happening on weekends. I suspect that it will continue on a regular basis, too.

Metro did defer maintenance for years and it all came to a head after the red line accident where several people got killed. Only then did Metro get more serious about maintenance.

One positive thing about Metro --- they are rolling out more and more of the new trains. Since I don't ride Metro every day, I haven't become jaded yet. I'm still pleased when I get to ride a new train

The disembodied female voice on the new trains doesn't always get it right. She said a silver line train was going to "Wiley-Reston East". We mentioned it to the motorman as we got off the train in Reston. He said, he didn't know what they were thinking.

[17thAndK]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

^^^^I've got news for you. Track work is still happening on weekends. I suspect that it will continue on a regular basis, too.

Well, gee, overnight and weekend track work are an ongoing part of standard maintenance programs. What's gone now are the SafeTrack catchup efforts that caused closures and delays at all sorts of hours across broad sections of the system. Those were the price we all paid for years of trying to operate the system on a shoe-string, where even when problems were detected early, there was no money available to make the needed repairs. Everything had to wait in line until resources became available.

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

Metro did defer maintenance for years and it all came to a head after the red line accident where several people got killed. Only then did Metro get more serious about maintenance.

The Red Line crash EIGHT YEARS AGO occurred after a newly installed monitoring unit failed to perform properly, allowing a train stopped in that block to become invisible to the system. The crash was the result of timely maintenance swapping in what turned out to be defective equipment. The swap had been done five days before the accident.

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

One positive thing about Metro --- they are rolling out more and more of the new trains.

The new cars were contracted for delivery, testing, and roll-out years ago, but the manufacturer (Kawasaki) was hampered by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011. More recent production was shifted to Nebraska, where overall production has increased and the new cars have met contract standards much more often. More than half the total order is already out on the line, and the rest are expected to arrive ahead of schedule. You may see more of the new cars though simply because plans to add new cars to the fleet to enable all 8-car trains during rush hour was replaced with a plan that removes one older and more unreliable car from the fleet for each new car that comes online. The new 7000-series cars have gone about six times further between delays than the old 5000-series cars.

[md911]

Originally Posted by AnalyzeThis

So, after 8 years of riding the metro, like many folks the decline in quality, reliability, safety, and increasing costs led me to seek alternate modes of transportation; and then I, fortunately, was able to get a job fairly close from home.

However, I've been offered a great opportunity that is primairily a telecommute position, but may require me to go into D.C. (McPherson Sq) 1-2 times a week. I have not rode on metro for three years and I know there is, supposedly, many changes that have occurred. I'm just looking for recent experiences from those that ride it routinely (atleast weekly) in terms of whether the recent changes has made a different in the ride.

Alternatively, what would be some other options to get into D.C. (Van Dorn to McPherson), with a flexible start time that isn't a horrendous commute? (<45 minutes). I was hoping to go to our L'Enfant facility, which would allow me to take VRE but I don't think that is happening.

I actually ride that same commute from Van Dorn to McPherson. I haven't had any issues on metro yet and its like a 30 minute ride.

[kevinm]

Metro is too unreliable. My wife prefers to sit on 395 for 1.5 hours each way from Duke Street to near the Verizon Center. At least she will get there.

[slowlane3]

Part of the maintenance problem stemmed from Metrorail gradually pushing forward the nightly closing time until it reached 2 a.m..... That gave crews only 3 hours per night of down-time in which to do track inspections, which wasn't enough time.....

Another problem was that records/ checklists were falsified to say that tracks had been inspected, when they had not been....

And motorists for years, were paying parking lot attendants in cash as they exited, much of which the attendants pocketed/ embezzled. This ate into Metro's cash-flow.

[17thAndK]

Originally Posted by slowlane3

Part of the maintenance problem stemmed from Metrorail gradually pushing forward the nightly closing time until it reached 2 a.m..... That gave crews only 3 hours per night of down-time in which to do track inspections, which wasn't enough time.....

The system does not need to be shut down to do track inspection. Such work is done at all hours of the day and night, important parts of it being done by track-geometry vehicles.

Originally Posted by slowlane3

Another problem was that records/ checklists were falsified to say that tracks had been inspected, when they had not been....

After a 2016 investigation into a derailment at EFC, five workers and eleven supervisors were terminated for suspected falsification. They were replaced on a 2-to-1 basis, suggesting that part of the problem was that the department had been understaffed and underbudgeted to begin with.

Originally Posted by slowlane3

And motorists for years, were paying parking lot attendants in cash as they exited, much of which the attendants pocketed/ embezzled. This ate into Metro's cash-flow.

Employee theft is an issue everywhere. Cash has meanwhile not been accepted at Metro parking lots since mid-2004. And what problems arose prior to that time were primarily due to lax hiring and oversight by Penn Parking Inc., the contractor who had handled parking lot payments prior to that time.

[Mr. Clutch]

When I'm in town I take the Silver Line pretty much each day into town. It's much better than it was during SafeTrack and much more reliable.

Unfortunately, I only started taking it within the last 3 years or so, so I have no concept of what the baseline of service is/was. But for what I use it for, it's not bad at all. Maybe a wee bit expensive though.