Official: Entire DC subway to shut down for inspections

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's already being branded
#Metromageddon.
Hundreds of thousands of Washington, D.C.,
workers were preparing for a potentially soul-
sucking commute with the rail system serving the
nation's capital facing a full-day shut down
Wednesday.
At least one congressman called on the federal
government to let workers telecommute to lessen
the agony after Metro General Manager Paul J.
Wiedefeld announced the shutdown at a news
conference in the agency's headquarters Tuesday
afternoon.
The system will be shut down to allow for an
emergency inspection of its third rail power cables,
Wiedefeld said.
"While the risk to the public is very low, I cannot
rule out a potential life and safety issue here, and
this is why we must take this action immediately,"
he said.
Metro is the nation's second-busiest transit
network: Its six rail lines and 91 stations serve
more than 700,000 riders daily, and it is a vital link
for federal workers and other commuters to
Washington from Maryland and Virginia. The
system will shut down at midnight Tuesday and
remain closed until 5 a.m. Thursday, a total of 29
hours.
D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans, the chairman of
Metro's board, said that while the system had
previously been closed for days for weather,
including earlier this year, it was believed to be the
first time the system had shut down for mechanical
reasons.
A fire on the tracks led to major delays throughout
the system on Monday. The fire was caused by the
same kind of electrical component that
malfunctioned last year and caused a train to fill
with smoke inside a downtown Washington tunnel,
killing one passenger and sickening dozens.
Wiedefeld said that during the shutdown about 600
so-called jumper cables will be inspected
throughout the system. Wiedefeld said those cables
were inspected after the L'Enfant Plaza fire and
deficient ones replaced.
Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, called on
the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to allow
federal workers to take unscheduled leave or
telework on Wednesday, calling the decision to shut
down "a gut punch to the hundreds of thousands of
commuters who depend on the system."
"While I am extremely frustrated with this news,
safety must be our No. 1 priority," Connolly said in
a statement. "This dramatic action highlights the
need for long-term safety and reliability
improvements throughout the system."
Commuters using the system during Tuesday
evening's rush hour said they hoped offices would
close as a result or let workers work from home.
"It's really frustrating. It's how everybody gets to
work," said Atlee Ahern, 23, a Justice Department
intern awaiting her train home to Bethesda,
Maryland. "The whole system shuts down, the
whole city shuts down."
Ahern, who rides Metro every workday, said she did
not see how it would be possible for her to get to
the office.
Brian Kirchner, 46, a federal contractor, said he was
delayed by two hours getting home to Hagerstown,
Maryland, on Monday because of the fire. He
commutes by car, bus and Metro to his job
downtown.