It may feel like officials are shutting down Metro stations for suspicious packages all the time.
Well, you aren’t imagining it.
Metro has responded to 339 calls for service in the first half of 2011 involving a suspicious person, package, bomb threat or similar condition, according to the transit agency. That’s almost two cases every day.
Not all of those cases resulted in a station shutdown, of course. But some, such as the bomb scare in Rockville on June 13 closed down multiple stations as the chaos surrounding a woman’s alleged threat on a Red Line train caused riders to flee onto the train tracks, which in turn forced the agency to shut down power to the tracks.
It was not immediately clear how many — if any — of the 339 cases involved actual bombs or credible threats. Many suspicious packages tend to be forgotten belongings, no more harmful than the unrefrigerated ham sandwich left in the bag. But the agency has to take them all seriously.
