Something Going on At Gallery Place/Metro Center Metro Stations?
06 October 2009 9:34 AM | By Prince Of Petworth in Neighborhoods - Chinatown/Penn Quarter, Transit 
but of course…, originally uploaded by cacophony76.
Anyone having problems here? A reader writes that they saw some sort of explosion at Gallery Place/Chinatown.
@dcfireems from twitter says:
“Metro Ctr / Gallery Place smoke in tunnel and/or fire under train Metro Ctr being evac”.
@metroopensdoors says:
“Red Line: Trains sharing same track btwn Judiciary Sq. & Farragut N. due to smoke on tracks at Metro Center. Delays in both directions.”
More as details become available.
Update: 9:50am: From a reader:
“I was actually at the station when it happened — a little before nine this morning, the red line train heading to metro center was slowly leaving when the station when it seemed to cause a series of loud cracking noises. Each was louder than the next — finally, a loud boom and the station filled with smoke. I was able to get a picture of he cloud coming through the station, but it doesn’t do it justice. Traffic stopped immediately; and, as I caught the orange line, I think I heard the fire alarm go off. What’s really curious about the whole incident is that the train was stopped for a few minutes before leaving, as if they knew something was wrong.”
Another witness:
“I was actually on the train. What happened was at Judiciary Square we had to let a sick passenger off the train. Then pulling out of Gallery Place, there was a mechanical malfunction, followed by stopping and starting of the train and then a series of explosions (with little fire and sparks everywhere) under the first car and the car I was on, and there was smoke in some of the cars. People were freaking out about it, but we got to metro center safely and offloaded and no one was hurt or pushed off the train. (I commend the train operator for keeping everyone calm!)
The other person is right, we did hold at Gallery Place for a few minutes while the train conductor told us that there was a malfunction but she couldn’t let us into the tunnel and we were going to make it to Metro Center and then offload. Shortly after this announcement were the other explosions including the one outside my car, followed by the people yelling to stop the train, be let off, hit the emergency button, etc.”
Update 10:40am – Metro reports all’s back to normal:
“At 10:12 a.m., normal service has resumed on the Red Line after the removal of an outbound six-car train on the Red Line at Metro Center. The disabled train lost one of its collector shoes. Each train has four collector shoes which connect to the third rail.”
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06 October 2009 9:39 AM | The Rat King of Adams Morgan Said:
I just got off the redline. There was smoke somewhere in between New York Ave and Metro Center. All sorts of delays.
06 October 2009 9:39 AM | Anonymous Said:
My husband was on a train coming in to Gallery Place from NY Avenue. They already had to stop to unload a sick passenger (I think at NY Ave). He said he heard a couple of loud noises followed by smelling smoke. After creeping through the tunnel, the driver offloaded the train at the station. According to my husband everyone seemed fine.
06 October 2009 9:42 AM | Pennywise Said:
This happens fairly frequently, usually the omnipresent DC trash gets into the tunnel and blows around until it causes a short and a fire.
06 October 2009 9:47 AM | Steph Said:
Hi there!
I was actually on the train what happened was at Judiciary Square we had to let a sick passenger off the train. Then pulling out of Gallery Place, there was a mechanical malfunction, followed by stopping and starting of hte train and then a series of explosions (with little fire and sparks everywhere) under the first car and the car I was on, and there was smoke in some of the cars. People were freaking out about it, but we got to metro center safely and offloaded and no one was hurt or pushed off the train. (I commend the train operator for keeping everyone calm!)
06 October 2009 9:48 AM | Bloomingdale Said:
Sounds like another performance bonus for John Catoe!
06 October 2009 9:50 AM | Anonymous Said:
No one died. Another successful day on Metro. Good work John Catoe!
06 October 2009 9:51 AM | T.n Said:
Sick! I went down there at about 8:40 the woodley park stop that is, it was slightly acrid air maybe a very small haze, every one was just looking pissed and looking for the next train down the tunnel, i was covering my mouth with my sleeve as to try and filter the air. Everyone looked at me like i was a freak… Are other people concerned about air quality? or am i a purist?
06 October 2009 10:11 AM | Divine Said:
When I got to Metro Center this morning, (right around 9) people were already shouting and fleeing the station. There was a passenger telling everyone to leave, that “something bad had happened” and to just go, and get out of the station. Pretty scary at the time.
06 October 2009 10:12 AM | brian Said:
I was on the train, maybe the 3rd or 4th car. Steph’s account is entirely accurate: series of loud noises and bumps followed by a bigger one in the tunnel which included an orange glow and thin gray smoke. I don’t remember the driver saying much at all, but everyone in my car held it together. I think we all wanted to panic (again, there was smoke coming into the cars) but we managed to stay calm. I don’t know about everyone else, but for the first few seconds I was definitely assuming the worst.
I’m definitely no expert, and I would’ve been upset about it at the time, but it seems like they should’ve offloaded the train at Chinatown after the second time they tried to take off and stopped because of that noise/bump. It would’ve saved some people a lot of stress in the end.
06 October 2009 10:17 AM | Pennywise Said:
From DC Alerts just now:
Problem now resolved at Metro Center. Metro Center station reopening, trains returning to normal.
Not sure if this applies to Gallery Place…
06 October 2009 10:26 AM | Kay Said:
can it get any worse for metro?
06 October 2009 10:38 AM | Robyn Said:
I was actually at Gallery Place and witnessed the incident. Fortunately I missed the malfunctioning train but it was still on the platform having difficulties. After Metro made an announcement for someone to board the red line train on track 2 (I don’t know if they ever did) the train operator made an announcement that she doesn’t know if they are going to offload at Gallery Place or not (in a pleasant and calm voice). So I sensed that something was going on with the train. As soon as the triain took off (slowly) there was what appeared to be a big fireball and following that was a bog “BOOM” and right after that was another fireball and another “BOOM”! I was a wreck to say the least! That GOD everyone is safe but that was the scariest thing that I have ever witnessed in my life!!! What’s next for Metro???
06 October 2009 10:55 AM | SamZen Said:
I was a passenger on this train and I was unpleadsantly surprised at how freaked out people were. Yes, there was an “explosion” outside of the train, fire/sparks and abundant smoke, but no one was harmed. It was scary, don’t get me wrong, but in challenging situations people, especially in DC, need to be a bit more rational. Freaking out and pushing to the exits doesn’t help.
06 October 2009 10:58 AM | SamZen Said:
BTW- my guess is that it was an electrical short that caused the “explosion”.
06 October 2009 11:07 AM | Anonymous Said:
Glad to read that no one was hurt. Must have been very unsettling for those on the train and even in the station at such a busy time.
But in response to the question of whether it can get any worse for Metro, NPR ran a story this morning about how it may have to raise fares in response to lower ridership this summer, which was down 10%, presumably in no small part due to the massive delays that persisted for 2 months after the horrible red line accident.
06 October 2009 11:08 AM | brian Said:
SamZen, I’m sorry to hear about your experience. I was actually impressed with the camaraderie I witnessed in our car. No one pushed, no one really moved even. People were comforting and reassuring the few passengers that were crying. As soon as it happened a few of us were quietly directing everyone to “stay calm” and “not to panic”. I could definitely see it going the other way though; despite the pushing and stuff on your car, everyone is physically fine and we’re all a little more alert at work today.
Ideally, we’ll get a statement from metro but I’m definitely not holding my breath. They’re probably pretty eager to sweep this under their hideous, bulging rug of incompetence and lack of accountability.
06 October 2009 11:18 AM | TonyS Said:
this makes me think… what is the plan for when a train brakes down in a tunnel and begins to get engulfed in smoke… I guess you exit the train and walk down the tunnel. Seems unsettling. Heavy smoke can kill.
06 October 2009 11:25 AM | Adriane Said:
I am glad to hear that everyone is ok and there were no injuries. I can imagine how scary this is. Im usually sleep on the Red Line on my way to work. I just pray that Metro gets it together. It is not looking too good for them right now.
06 October 2009 11:35 AM | Steph Said:
The people on my car were also pushing and yelling but everyone settled down pretty quickly, until we got into Metro Center where people started pushing to be the first off the train. I also find it upsetting that someone was directing people to get out of the Metro Center station immediately because mass hysteria never does anyone any good. It’s difficult to remain calm I suppose, but I agree with Samzen, when you live in a metro area like Washington, DC, you need to be able to keep yourself calm in times like this.
06 October 2009 11:51 AM | The Centzon Totochtin Said:
Why does the monthy C.H.U.D. cleansing have to happen during rush hour?
06 October 2009 11:56 AM | ShawRes Said:
Metro’s in a sorry state right now. This city deserves better from its transit system.
06 October 2009 2:06 PM | ontarioroader Said:
And WMATA wonders why ridership is down. The people are slowly but increasingly voting ‘no confidence’ with their feet…and WMATA leadership is so out of touch they seem to think Catoe is doing an ok job. All these problems that have been growing under his watch and and his contract gets renewed with big bonuses/perks? Absurd.