Liz Essley

Updated: Sun, Apr 14, 2013

Metro is planning to spend $5 million next fiscal year to hire more people to combat fatigue in its workforce -- but none of them will be bus drivers or rail operators. Sleepiness has been a problem for the agency, with some Metrobus drivers working more than 20 hours in a day and 67 caught on...

Liz Essley

Published: Sun, Apr 14, 2013

Metro plans to set aside nearly $70 million over the next six years to expand two of its busiest stations to ease packed platforms and dangerous crowds. Tens of thousands of riders trek through Union Station and Gallery Place-Chinatown every weekday -- an average of 33,250 and 26,587,...

Liz Essley

Published: Thu, Apr 11, 2013

Metro's Bethesda station is set to get a $10 million facelift as Metro makes it the "model station of the future." Metro officials announced Thursday that they would test station upgrades and a new interior design by installing them at the Red Line station. Improvements that get good reviews...

Liz Essley

Published: Thu, Apr 11, 2013

Metro officials said Thursday that they have no way to ease the 12-minute waits between trains that thousands of Blue Line riders will suffer once the Silver Line opens. "I'm sorry we don't have another solution, but we simply have not been able to find one that makes financial or time sense,"...

Liz Essley

Published: Thu, Apr 11, 2013

More than 870,000 trips were taken on the Metro system Wednesday, making it the fourth busiest day in the transit agency's history, Metro said. A Capitol Hill rally, cherry blossoms and the tourists flocking to see them, a Nationals Game and a Wizards game got the credit for the ridership...

Liz Essley

Published: Wed, Apr 10, 2013

Be prepared for crowded Metro railcars and platforms this afternoon. The agency says it's expecting a busy Wednesday, with a rally at the Capitol, a Washington Nationals game, cherry blossom visitors and a Wizards game on the docket. Metro is warning riders that they may see more crowds on...

Liz Essley

Updated: Wed, Apr 10, 2013

A new parking garage at the Twinbrook Metro station has "extensive cracks" and will need to be repaired before Metro accepts the work from its contractor. Metro has been trying get the contractor for the 426-space garage to fix the problems for several months, the transit agency said in...

Liz Essley

Published: Tue, Apr 9, 2013

Metro is planning to install glow-in-the-dark signs on its trains this spring telling riders to stay onboard in case of an emergency. The signs come after January's Green Line meltdown, when hundreds of riders self-evacuated from hot, stuffy trains after they lost power in a tunnel under the...

Liz Essley

Published: Tue, Apr 9, 2013

Some of Metro's most problematic railcars would be replaced under a new proposal. Metro staff plan to replace the 4000 series railcars with its swanky new 7000 series in a proposal due to go before its board of directors on Thursday. The 21-year-old 4000 series breaks down nearly twice as...

Liz Essley

Published: Mon, Apr 8, 2013

Tens of thousands of Metro riders will face longer waits and more crowded trains with the arrival of Metro's new Silver Line, expected late this year -- but hundreds of thousands of other riders will see shorter waits and fewer crowds, the transit agency predicts. Metro expects 82,556 trips...