Red Line single-tracking after smoke reported in tunnel near Bethesda Metro station (Photos)

A smoke incident at the Bethesda Metro station has forced Red Line trains to single track between Friendship Heights and Medical Center this evening. Around 7:00 PM, smoke was reported in the tunnel near the station. Metro Transit police and Montgomery County fire units responded, but so far have found no fire. A police officer at the scene said the smoke is believed to have been caused by brake dust in the tunnel, but firefighters are going to thoroughly search to be sure. Among the units that responded was a truck from the Twinbrook Fire Station 23 in Rockville.

Rockville Metro station paving will temporarily relocate these bus stops

Construction and paving at the Rockville Metro station from May 31 to June 6, 2022 will require the temporary relocation of many bus stops at the transit hub. Wayfinding signage will be posted at the station to assist riders in finding their bus stop. The following routes will be affected:

RIDE ON

• Route 44. Destination: Twinbrook. Temporary bus stop: T1.
• Route 45. Destination: Rockville Regional Transit Center and Twinbrook. Temporary bus stop: D (eastside).
• Route 46. Destination: Montgomery College and Medical Center Way. Temporary bus stop: T1.
• Route 47. Destination: Bethesda. Temporary bus stop: T1.
• Route 48. Destination: Wheaton. Temporary bus stop: B (eastside).
• Route 49. Destination: Glenmont. Temporary bus stop: B (eastside).
• Route 52: Destination: Montgomery General Hospital. Temporary bus stop: D (eastside).
• Route 54. Destination: Lakeforest Transit Center. Temporary bus stop: T2.
• Route 55. Destination: Germantown. Temporary bus stop: C (eastside).
• Route 56. Destination: Lakeforest Transit Center. Temporary bus stop: T2.
• Route 59. Montgomery Village. Temporary bus stop: C (eastside).
• Route 63. Destination: Shady Grove. Temporary bus stop: T1.
• Route 81. Destination: White Flint. Temporary bus stop: T1.
• Route 101. Destination: Medical Center. Temporary bus stop: T3.
• Route 101. Destination: Lakeforest. Temporary bus stop: G.
• Route 301. Destination: Tobytown. Temporary bus stop: D (eastside).
• Flex Rockville. On Demand Service. Temporary bus stop: T1.   

METROBUS

• Routes Q1, Q2, Q5, Q6. Destination: Shady Grove. Temporary bus stop: G.
• Routes Q1, Q2, Q4. Destination: Silver Spring. Temporary bus stop: A (eastside).
• Routes Q5, Q6. Destination: Wheaton. Temporary bus stop: A (eastside).
• Route T2. Destination: Friendship Heights. Temporary bus stop: A (eastside).
• Ride On bus remains free to ride until July 2, 2022 when fares will be $1

Police step up presence at Montgomery County Metro stations after New York subway attack (Photos)

Montgomery County and Metro Transit Police had a visible presence at Metro stations in the county Tuesday, after a mass shooting on a New York subway train earlier that day. Metro Emergency Response Team vehicles were parked in the bus bay area of the Bethesda Metro station. A County police cruiser prominently straddled the concrete median at the Old Georgetown Road entrance to the station. 

Authorities have so far declined to label the New York incident as a terrorist attack, despite the use of smoke grenades and a gas mask. Police are calling Frank R. James a person of interest in the mass shooting, and a $50,000 reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest. Ten people were wounded early yesterday morning after a gunman donned a gas mask, deployed smoke grenades, and then fired 33 shots in a subway car on an N train approaching the 36th Street station, the New York Times reports.

WMATA to address Rockville Metro safety concerns at Mayor & Council meeting tonight

Representatives of transit agency WMATA will appear before Rockville's Mayor and Council tonight at 7:00 PM, to respond to elected officials' concerns about safety and recent shutdowns of the system's Shady Grove and Rockville stations for extended periods. Outgoing WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld addressed five concerns the Mayor and Council expressed in a letter in late 2021, ahead of tonight's presentation.

When asked why WMATA delayed in tackling defects on its 7000-series railcars, Wiedefeld completely dodged the question in his written response. Instead, he reiterated the general pablum the agency has released to the public since the removal of the 7000 cars led to reduced service, promising more details in the future when a consultant WMATA hired completes its investigation.

The timetable for the return of the 7000-series cars also remains vague in the written response to officials' second question. However, since Wiedefeld wrote the letter, it was announced that the cars won't be back in use until sometime this summer.

In response to two questions about rider safety during the pandemic, and how it will be maintained as more workers return to commuting in the future, Wiedefeld mentioned several policies and public relations initiatives. Some, such distributing face masks to unmasked riders, have been in place during the worst of the pandemic. Others, such as a new awareness campaign, will begin later this year.

Finally, officials asked how safety would become more transparent at WMATA. Wiedefeld did not have any new developments on that front, either. He pointed to existing accountability measures that have been in place for some time. City officials will have the opportunity to press WMATA on these and other less-than-upfront responses at the meeting tonight.

Rockville Metro station East Kiss and Ride lot to be closed Friday

The Montgomery County Department of Transportation announced that the East Kiss and Ride parking lot at the Rockville Metro station will be closed tomorrow, Friday, March 18, 2022. Vehicles parked there may be ticketed and towed away. MCDOT also reported that the Capital Bikeshare station on the west side of the Metro station has reopened.

Rockville, Shady Grove Metro stations to reopen in January

WMATA announced that the extended closure of two Metro stations that has extremely inconvenienced commuters in Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Clarksburg and Damascus for months will end in January. The Shady Grove and Rockville Metro Red Line stations are now scheduled to reopen for service on January 16, 2022. Free parking and free shuttle bus service will continue to be offered at both stations until the reopening date.

Rockville Metro pedestrian bridge repairs to begin today

WMATA is scheduled to finally begin repairs on the skybridge connecting Rockville Town Center to the Rockville Metro station today. The bridge has been closed since last summer, when glass panels on it suddenly shattered. Repair work on all the deficiencies of the bridge is scheduled to take seven months. 

Users of the convenient bridge have two options during the closure. A shuttle bus will run in between Monroe Street and the Metro station every 5-to-10 minutes during Metrorail operating hours. And a pedestrian detour route has been set up, running along Monroe Place. See the map above to plan the detour that works for you (click map to enlarge).

TIME FOR MARYLAND TO DEMAND CHANGES AT METRO

The farce that was the last 48 hours of Red Line service on Metro is not the last straw. Whatever the last straw was (I think most riders and employees have lost count at this point), it happened a long time ago. Yet Metro continues to slouch forward, its leadership locking arms with apologists in local government and media. The result is that, in the customer's experience, there has been no positive change whatsoever.

Metro has been a good subway system in the past. Sure, there have always been issues, but nothing like that of recent years. Metro can be at least that good again with the right leadership, and adequate funding.

We've heard a lot about the "aggressive" changes in maintenance, safety and service. Riders have suffered through endless weekend station closures, closures that - along with punitive fare increases - have sent some riders back to their automobiles.

But those inconvenient closures have produced no tangible results. There continue to be delays, derailings, and even another fatal accident that killed an employee. Does anyone call this an improvement?

Yet Metro truly has a Teflon leadership. No matter what happens, it's never held accountable. But riders have leverage beyond their farecards: asking their local and state government officials to tell Metro's leadership enough is enough.

If our elected officials don't take action, we should take action at the voting machines in DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Furthermore, the state of Maryland should consider doing what Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell did three years ago: decide what substantive leadership, operation and safety changes they believe should be implemented, and withhold Maryland's Metro funding until those are enacted. Should that be the first and only means of bringing about real change? No. But if all else fails, is allowing one of the best subway systems in the world to continue to decline an option?

I'm certainly open to other suggestions of how Montgomery County and Maryland specifically can apply pressure on Metro on behalf of their beleaguered residents; feel free to leave a comment below.

But we can't continue to be told that change is just around the corner. When's the last time your train was automatically run, rather than manually operated? How many years have gone by without fixing that problem? I don't even hear Metro, the media or politicians talk about that issue anymore.

I'd like to see politicians show the same animation and fury they generate about plastic bags and trans fat on behalf of an unacceptable level of subway service for their constituents. And, if they don't, they should be replaced with people who will.

We can't go on like this.