DC Metro disrupted yet again

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Three weeks ago, on a balmy Saturday afternoon, the Washington, DC Metro hurriedly evacuated passengers from several Metro stations, and halted traffic to and from these stations, when dozens of dead birds were discovered on these stations’ platforms. FBI agents and terrorism specialists were dispatched, fearing a terrorist attack using chemical of biological agents. After a few hours it was discovered that a contractor assigned to clear Metro tunnels of birds and insects was too lazy to do it around midnight, as he was supposed to, and instead chose to do his work in the middle of the afternoon with thousands of passengers aruound.

Well, the Washington Post’s Lena Sun and Martin Weil report that last night smoke poured into Metro subway tunnels, only a day after an unprecedented and unexplained series of such incidents. Worried officials began to consider the possibility that the events were more than mere accidents. “This is not normal,” Metro general manager John Catoe Jr. said. “This is highly, highly irregular.” Asked whether he suspected terrorism, Catoe said no, but added: “Could it be something else? Everything now is suspicious.” Asked whether he suspected sabotage, he said, “I don’t know the answer to that question.” The system reopened Tuesday at 5 am, and Metro officials said trains were running normally, with no service disruptions or problems.

As was the case on Sunday, yesterday’s events came just after the height of the evening rush, halting train travel on part of the Green Line in the District and much of the Blue and Yellow lines in Alexandria and in Arlington and Fairfax counties. At one point, a Metro spokeswoman said, seven trains lost power in the Blue and Yellow Line tunnels south of the Pentagon. The chaotic situation forced thousands of irritated and bewildered passengers to disembark from stopped trains and use shuttle buses or search for other ways to complete trips home that, in some cases, stretched hours longer than usual. Officials provided some explanation for the shutdowns but could not provide a detailed basis for much of what happened. “We’re at a loss to identify the root cause of the problem,” Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said.

Darrell Darnell, the DHS official with responsibility for the Washington area, said there was no indication of terrorist involvement. Alan Etter, a D.C. fire department spokesman, said the immediate cause of the smoke was an overheated insulator on the third rail, which supplies power, but that did not answer questions about underlying causes. Etter said the department was “very concerned” about the large number of incidents in a brief period and would try to assist Metro in determining whether they were more than accidental. Etter said fire officials will meet with Metro officials today “to see if we can figure out what’s going on.” He called the rate of smoke incidents alarming. “We’d like for them to stop,” he said.

Stay tuned.