草莓传媒

WASHINGTON — A planned shutdown of the Blue and Yellow lines Wednesday night led to confusion for Metro riders, many of whom had not gotten the message.

Metro planned the shutdown from 9 p.m. through closing to move out the heavy equipment that had been in a round-the-clock work zone since early March, and to restore third-rail power so train service could return to normal for Thursday morning鈥檚 commute.

Metro spokesman Richard Jordan pointed out that the plan was first announced in March , and that the shutdown was included in rider email alerts, and media coverage. But a number of riders either did not get the message or experienced the disruption despite reaching the work zone just before the announced shutdown time of 9 p.m.

鈥淚f the trains were going to stop at 9 o鈥檆lock, let鈥檚 say that did not seem apparent; otherwise, I would have tried to do an alternative method of transportation,鈥� commuter Kevin Newak told 草莓传媒.

He got on a Blue Line train at Farragut West that reached Reagan National Airport around 8:45.

鈥淭here was never any indication that the line was going to shut down for them to move the equipment off the tracks after the end of the surge,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he train said Franconia-Springfield, so, of course, the indication was it was going there at some point once it got past the single-track area.鈥�

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鈥� Nick (@GuardianNJL)

Eventually, he said, train operators announced that the Blue Line train and a Yellow Line train the riders had been directed to across the platform were out of service.

鈥淪o, by that time, many passengers were very angry, irate about what was happening. The staff tried to organize and help us figure out what was going on. 鈥� I think they didn鈥檛 have a lot of information themselves,鈥� Newak said.

While riders who reached the station later in the evening said they had to wait for shuttle buses, Newak said there were buses waiting for the first group of riders.

The kind of nonsense we have to deal with b/c can’t get it together

鈥� Roman (@romanscorner)

鈥淏ut, again, there was little to no communication as to which buses to get on or if they were going directly to the endpoints like Huntington or Franconia-Springfield or they鈥檙e going to stop at each station. We had to keep asking the staff that were present and the drivers where they were going,鈥� he said.

鈥淔inally, once we sorted ourselves out and got on our bus, it was quickly apparent to us that the bus driver wasn鈥檛 sure where to go. One of the passengers literally had to tell the driver 鈥榯urn here, go here鈥� to proceed toward Braddock Road station,鈥� he said.

Newak eventually made it home, but hopes communication improves in the future.

鈥淚 empathize with the drivers and the operators; I think that they were doing the best they could,鈥� he said.

Metro leaders have expressed concerns before when there are changes that are not clearly communicated, and about Metro鈥檚 in with riders .

Blue and Yellow Line service returned to normal schedules as planned Thursday and Friday.

鈥淚 will give Metro credit: The trains have been running great the last two days,鈥� Newak said.

The next round-the-clock work zone . During the work, no 鈥淩ush Plus鈥� Yellow Line trains are scheduled, which reduces service again for riders between Franconia-Springfield, L鈥橢nfant Plaza and Prince George鈥檚 Plaza.

The new work zone also cuts off Metro鈥檚 large Greenbelt Rail Yard from the rail system, Jordan said. In addition to regular railcar maintenance and repairs, that yard is where new 7000 Series railcars are delivered for testing. Metro has other rail yards that will remain connected to the mainline tracks during the work.