(Updated at 3:05 p.m.) A group of bystanders helped out a Metro rider last night (Tuesday) by tracking down and detaining three men who allegedly tried stealing a woman’s cell phone.
Springfield resident Jonathan Jackson says he was riding the Blue Line home around 7:00 p.m., when he noticed a man acting suspiciously. When the doors opened at Arlington Cemetery, the situation grew weirder.
It’s Friday the 13th — According to superstition, it’s a day of supreme unluckiness. According to one Dutch statistics keeper, it’s actually less unlucky than other days. [Wikipedia]
Reminder: Blue, Yellow Line Work — As a reminder, track work will shut down the Blue and Yellow lines between the Pentagon City and Braddock Road stations this weekend. That means the Crystal City and National Airport stations will be closed. Free shuttle bus service will be provided.
Workers will be installing cable to provide better cell phone coverage along the Blue and Yellow lines, in addition to doing work on ties and insulators. Starting at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, July 13, and continuing through closing on Sunday, July 15, free shuttle buses will replace trains between Pentagon City and Braddock Road on the Blue and Yellow lines. The Reagan National Airport and Crystal City stops will both be closed.
Blue Line trains will operate in two segments: between Franconia-Springfield and Braddock Road and between Pentagon City and Largo Town Center, at regular weekend intervals. Yellow Line trains will also operate in two segments: between Huntington and Braddock Road and between Pentagon City and Mount Vernon Square, at regular weekend intervals. Customers traveling through the work zone should allow about 30 minutes of additional travel time.
Off-peak rail fares are increasing from $1.60-$2.75, depending on the length of your trip, to $1.70-$3.50. Peak fares are increasing from $1.95-$5.20 to $2.10-$5.75.
In order to encourage riders to utilize SmartTrip cards, there will also be new a $1 surcharge for riders using paper fare cards.
Designed to reduce the rush hour “Orange crush” by adding three additional Orange Line trains per hour, Rush Plus accomplished the enhanced Orange Line service by directing three formerly Blue Line trains per hour over the Yellow Line bridge into the District.
Metro billed Rush+ as “rush hour reinvented,” promising to “reduce crowding and provide new transfer-free travel opportunities.” Has it lived up to expectations?”
Rush Plus Starts Today — This morning marks the start of Metro’s “Rush Plus” modified rush hour rail service. So far, via Twitter, numerous problems and crowded trains have been reported on the Blue Line. Initial reviews have been mixed on the Orange and Yellow lines.
Hearing Set for Pike Neighborhoods Plan — A public hearing about the new Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Plan will be held on Saturday, July 21. The plan envisions the addition of 6,000 new rental apartments (to the existing stock of 9,000 apartments) along the Columbia Pike corridor over the next 30 years. Arlington County says the goal of the plan is to “Preserve affordable housing… encourage private investment… create a more pedestrian-friendly community… [and] strengthen the Pike corridor’s transit network.” [Washington Post, Arlington County]
Rush+ will be in effect Monday through Friday, from 6:30-9:00 a.m. and 3:30-6:00 p.m.
Orange Line customers who use stations west of Rosslyn should notice three more trains per hour in each direction. Metro estimates the change will allow for an 18 percent increase in capacity on the Orange Line, which would benefit more than 46,000 customers.
Work on the Orange, Blue and Yellow lines will result in longer travel times for riders. The work is being done as part of what WMATA terms “the massive effort to rebuild Metrorail.”
Due to testing associated with the Silver Line construction project, the Orange Line will be split into two sections between Arlington and Fairfax County. One section will operate between Vienna and West Falls Church, the other between East Falls Church and New Carrollton. A shuttle bus will be provided between the East and West Falls Church stations. Riders taking the shuttle should add 20 minutes to their travel time, Metro says.
The revamp involves installing new landscaping, pavers, irrigation, seating, lighting, curbs and gutters. It’s designed to provide a larger public space where community functions, such as the farmers’ market, can be held.
The plaza’s fountain will stay, but will receive upgraded water lines. Additionally, the changes should improve drainage in the plaza.
Starting at 10:00 tonight and continuing through system closing on Sunday, buses will replace trains between the Pentagon and Rosslyn stations. Blue Line trains will operate in two sections, with one of the sections running between Franconia-Springfield and Mt. Vernon Square via the Yellow Line bridge. Arlington Cemetery station will be closed.
The service change is necessary to allow crews to replace wooden rail ties — the same work that was taking place last weekend.
New School Budget Approved — The Arlington School Board approved a new $499.98 million budget last night. The budget includes a 2.84 percent cost of living increase for school employees, but no seniority-based “step” increases. The per-student cost at Arlington Public Schools will increase to $18,615, up from $18,400 in Superintendent Patrick Murphy’s FY 2013 proposed budget and $18,110 in this past year’s budget. [Sun Gazette]
Extra I-66 Lane Studied — Adding an extra lane in each direction on I-66 would improve travel times for drivers by only about 2 percent, while costing some $310 to $685 million, according to a preliminary study. [Greater Greater Washington]
The incident was first reported by WMATA as a “track problem” around 7:15 p.m. Minutes later the agency announced that Blue and Orange Line service was temporarily suspended in between D.C. and Arlington due to a “minor” derailment. No injuries have been reported and WMATA says passengers on the train were “safely moved to platform.”
Trains started single tracking around 7:30 p.m. and are now running with a 20 minute headway, according to Metro. The agency is advising Blue Line passengers to use the Yellow Line between D.C. and Virginia, if possible.
