The reason the trains turn around at Grosvenor, Silver Spring, Mt Vernon, potentially at Potomac Avenue, Farrgut North, and formerly the Airport is due to the existence of a pocket track, where they can place a train between the revenue rails, allow them to safely turn it around rather than going the wrong way down the mainlines.

A little different and damages one of the supporting arguments, but the point still stands. They do it at Anaconstia for basball games all the time.

by Xavier on May 17, 2012 1:08 pm • link • report

This is absolutely correct. There are similar problems, although less severe on the Red Line.

Normal daytime headways on the Red Line are 7 minutes on weekends. The suburban sections of the line are often single-tracked for maintenance with 24 minute headways through the single-tracked area. Metro could easily run two trains through downtown between each Shady Grove-to-Glenmont train, yielding an 8 minute headway which is slightly worse than normal. But instead in runs a single train, for a 12-minute headway.

by Ben Ross on May 17, 2012 1:09 pm • link • report

I'd like to add it was not just the Orange line, the Red line for 4 weekends in a row has been single tracked. Granted they are offering extra service between NY Ave and Farragut North, the two ends were experiencing almost 30 minute station headway, plus further delays once boarding the trains, including extended waits at each station, and a 10 minute wait mid track between Ft Totten and Brookland/Catholic. I like(d) the idea of completely closing down a section, replacing it with buses and keeping the rest at normal service, but it seems they have been doing almost system wide single tracking on the weekends since they came back from Cherry Blossom recess. Makes me not want to go into DC to visit all of the attractions the City has to offer not only to tourists but locals as well.

by Gull on May 17, 2012 1:10 pm • link • report

"We know trains can turn around using the crossover tracks since they do it every day at Mount Vernon Square and Grosvenor, so why couldn't they have done so last weekend at Federal Center SW? This simple solution would have prevented thousands of Metro customers from being greatly inconvenienced."

This isn't quite accurate. The "crossover tracks" at Mt Vernon Square and Grosvenor are actually called pocket tracks, with an entire siding track available to store a full 8-car train off the main 2-track railroad. The crossover between Federal Center SW and Capitol South is just an intersection of those two main tracks, not a full pocket track, where it is not as easy to shift trains between tracks as at pocket track locations (other pocket track locations include Ft. Totten, Silver Spring, West Falls Church, Anacostia and National Airport).

Nonetheless, you are right about the larger point: 30-minute headways on the rest of the Orange Line were unacceptable, and could have been remediated by switching trains between Federal Center SW and Capitol South.

by Rich Sampson on May 17, 2012 1:16 pm • link • report

WMATA is better off shutting down sections of the track and replacing them with buses and get their repair work done quickly. I feel punished trying to support the metro on the weekend. I don't remember a time where my commute didn't double or triple in time due to such large headways.

How does metro expect to make money if their customers are not confident that it will get them where they need to be in a timely fashion?

In an ideal world, Metro trains would run every five minutes 24/7. I guess I'll keep dreaming.

by cmc on May 17, 2012 1:18 pm • link • report

And yet we still call it unscheduled service.

by Bossi on May 17, 2012 1:24 pm • link • report

What happened to just closing down portions of track and running shuttle buses in that section? That has proven again and again to be a far more reliable and faster option than single-tracking.

by Justin..... on May 17, 2012 1:27 pm • link • report

WMATA should not only do this with track work, but any time there is blockage of a line. I know this gets the logistics out of whack, but they can sort that out during the night. There is no reason why people up or downstream of a blockage should have less trains, especially considering that certain travelers can take another route to their destination.

I have noticed that some blue trains turn around before at Arlington Cemetery when there are problems downtown with the Orange/Blue line.

by Jasper on May 17, 2012 1:38 pm • link • report

The odd thing to me is that similar work was done in that section the prior weekend, but only caused single tracking from Eastern Market to Stadium Armory. Were they doing specific work at or around the Stadium Armory pocket track that made it unusable last weekend? (The description of work is largely similar between each weekend.)

by Mainland on May 17, 2012 1:39 pm • link • report

This is why I take the bus on the weekend.

by Dan's High Top Fade on May 17, 2012 1:43 pm • link • report

A little different and damages one of the supporting arguments,

No, not really.

You need a pocket track to turn a train during peak hours, because you can't block in the inbound track. That's why the Yellow line can't go beyond Mt Vernon Sq during rush hour - the next closest pocket track is at the end of the line.

However, to short-turn a train during off-peak hours (when trains are not as frequent), all you need is a crossover to get to the other track. That's how the Yellow line turns at Fort Totten during off-peak hours.

All weekend service is off-peak headways (or worse), therefore it should be possible for WMATA to short turn trains at just about any crossover.

by Alex B. on May 17, 2012 1:51 pm • link • report

Gotta get my hands on one of those self-driving cars...

by MJ on May 17, 2012 2:01 pm • link • report

Hear, hear. I have pretty much given up riding the Metro on weekends, and instead take the bus or just don't go downtown at all. It's pretty sad when you can either drive or take a cab to your destination in the same amount of time you'll spend just waiting on the platform.

I understand that Metro is performing vital repairs, bla bla bla, but honestly I would prefer them to shut down a section of a line completely rather than single-track and then have shuttle service between stations. At least then you're moving, rather than standing on a platform for 20+ minutes.

by Rebecca on May 17, 2012 2:20 pm • link • report

The trains don't use crossovers at Grosvenor and Mt Vernon Sq, they use pocket tracks. There's a huge difference between the two since the latter doesn't foul the mainline while the train "turns."

Suggestion: Before you post such a long article, especially such a negative and ranting one, you should do your research first.

by Quizno on May 17, 2012 2:27 pm • link • report

It's not just the 30 minute headways. It's the total lack of a published schedule. Even next train isn't accurate enough to be useful on single tracking weekends. You just have to show up and hope for the best. In my opinion, the lack of predictability/scheduling is worse than the 30 min headways and possibly easier to solve. Why not just state that trains will leave the ends of the line every half hour on the half hour? Then you can do the math and know when the train is coming.

by Falls Church on May 17, 2012 2:35 pm • link • report

1. The 30 minute headways are just laziness by Metro. Put some damn filler trains in between the track work so you have an actually usable transit system. You don't need a pocket track off-peak, just a crossover - they do it every day at Fort Totten.

2. If you want to have 30 minute headways, at least put it on a schedule. You can't use next train because it doesn't work during single tracking, so you're basically throwing people into a crap shoot during these weekends. A 15 minute average wait is horrific. So figure out a schedule that can work logistically and then post it! At least then there is information out there people can use. God forbid they provide information to customers though.

The reason they probably don't do more closing with buses is that they don't have enough track workers to make it worthwhile. Also they may not have enough bus drivers, and the bus bridges cost more than running infrequent train service. Not sure why they didn't do it this past weekend though as there were no other closings.

by MLD on May 17, 2012 2:57 pm • link • report

@FallsChurch & @MLD +1

by Tina on May 17, 2012 3:12 pm • link • report

I have pretty much given up riding the Metro on weekends, and instead take the bus or just don't go downtown at all.

Since the red line accident, I suppose I've taken the Metro several times on the weekend. Just enough to remind me not to do it the next time. It's not just the wait between trains, though that can be interminable -- it's how long the ride can be, because of frequent and long stoppages. Buses just aren't fast enough if you have to travel any distance.

I have stopped using Metro on weekends. I drive instead. That sounds snide, and it is -- but, it's also a huge behavioral change for me.

by Fischy (Ed F.) on May 17, 2012 3:17 pm • link • report

A 15 minute average wait is horrific.

A 15 minute wait would be wonderful, compared with the reality. I should add that I have pretty much stopped using the Metro to go to United games, too -- in part, because the ride home is tough -- often involving a 20 minute wait at Metro Center. Metro should be more convenient and faster, not less convenient and slower than driving.

I hope some day Metro will return to the level of service it used to offer.

by Fischy (Ed F.) on May 17, 2012 3:21 pm • link • report

I can recall plenty of instances where Metro has short-turned trains without using a pocket track. In fact, this weekend they're short-turning half of the red line trains at Van Ness, without a pocket track, because of single tracking between Van Ness and Friendship Heights. The inexcusable part is that they're only running these short-turned trains to NY-Ave instead of running them all the way to Fort Totten.

A weekend of this is perhaps tolerable, but four weekends in a row! They're doing as much as they can to encourage choice riders to make another choice.

by thm on May 17, 2012 3:35 pm • link • report

Dan,

Thank you for writing about this. This is one of the biggest headaches with using the system. WMATA has never explained to its customers why a section of track work on one end of the line warrants passengers 10 miles away in downtown or another state to wait 24 to 30 minutes for a train.

Quizno,

How does a mainline-to-mainline crossover (that is, without holding in a pocket track) "foul the mainline" any worse than a 30-minute headway? I'm not being snarky, I'm really curious to know.

by Eric Fidler on May 17, 2012 3:35 pm • link • report

I would add:

*And when they do use the crossover, they're doing it all wrong. The Van Ness-NYA "downtown" service frequently invoked on the Red Line...wait for it...wait for it...USES CROSSOVERS (on both ends)! But, there are crossovers after RIA, which would allow Metro to run the trains to at least Brookland instead of cutting them off at NYA. It would be great if they could go as far as Ft. Totten (providing a valuable connection to a less-screwed Green and Yellow Line, and making travel northeast on the Green Line much more expedient), but I'm not sure if that's possible looking at the schematic posted. On the other end, the trains would have to be able to get to at least Bethesda before a crossover could be employed, so that may not always be possible. But, at least give us a few more stations, when possible, of something *resembling* decent service.

by Ms. D on May 17, 2012 3:37 pm • link • report

Count me in as another who will try everything known to man just to NOT have to use metro trains on weekends.

by HogWash on May 17, 2012 3:46 pm • link • report

I gave up Metro months ago. It's fantastic. The problem is that the Metro surveys are not counting those people. I would love to give WMATA a piece of my mind but now I won't be able to.

by Adam L on May 17, 2012 3:59 pm • link • report

@Adam L, if Metro actually counted those people they'd have to face the reality of their incompetence; this way they can just pretend those people don't exist.

I don't have a car so I don't get the joy of avoiding Metro on the weekends that way (though many a time I've wished for one), but have occasionally rented a zipcar rather than ride the Metro. Think about that, Metro; I'm willing to pay 25 extra dollars just to not ride on the train. That's how bad it's gotten. I'm willing to pay that just to avoid what a miserable, unpredictable, soul-crushing experience it is to ride on Metro. I pity the folks that have to ride everyday, I'm so glad I'm a bike commuter.

by Joe on May 17, 2012 4:06 pm • link • report

Regarding use of crossovers for short turn trains...

For whatever reason, WMATA seems to only short turn trains like this week at Van Ness where the crossover is before the flow of traffic. At Van Ness, the cross over is on the south (toward Glenmont) end. So, trains from downtown can pull in offload/reload and head back downtown in one stop. At Federal Center and Eastern Market the crossovers are after the stations in the New Carrollton direction. In the case of last week, this would've meant a train would have needed to pull into the station, offload entirely, pull out of the station past the crossover and then reverse back into the station in the opposite direction.

I can't quantify the timing, but it's certainly faster to reverse trains like they can this weekend at Van Ness than it would have been at Eastern Market last weekend.

Nonetheless, off peak crossovers at Totten are likely under more time pressure to reverse than they would've been at Eastern Market last weekend. So, even though the track schematic was not ideal, it had to be better than running trains every 30 minutes.

Also, regarding NOMA vs Rhode Island Ave, Brentwood acts as a quasi-pocket track in those circumstances which is likely why it and not RIA was used as a terminus. I would argue that if one really wanted short turn trains to go as far north as Brookland that using the B&E connector track just south of Ft. Totten as a pocket track would make more sense.

And one more thing, running Van Ness short turn trains all the way to Totten should be feasible in theory since the Totten crossover is also before the flow of traffic. However, in 7+ years of riding Metro I can't recall a time where they ran short turn trains like that where one of the termini were not pocket tracks or end of the lines (So a theoretical set up like just running trains Twinbrook to Friendship Heights).

by Mainland on May 17, 2012 4:37 pm • link • report

Does WTA have to report budgeted and actual miles to the FTA?

If they are running many fewer actual miles (in example given, they ran less than HALF the budgeted service on the orange line), shouldn't there be cost savings... not having to pay operators... fewer miles and operating time on cars... less money spent on electricity? Do the cost savings get passed on to the federal government? Maryland? DC? Virginia?

by B.O. on May 17, 2012 4:45 pm • link • report

I'll only add that it's been about 2 years since I was on one of these short turn trains that ended at, then, New York Ave. My Glenmont direction train offloaded and pulled into Brentwood before turning around to head back downtown. For all I know they might currently be using the crossover just south of NYA/NOMA to turn these trains around and not pulling into Brentwood.

by Mainland on May 17, 2012 4:50 pm • link • report

Yeah. We've been dealing with this on the Red Line for about a year now.

A few months ago, for about a week, WMATA intentionally began running 25-minute headways on the Red Line after 7:45pm(ish) on weekdays. Talk about a nightmare.

by andrew on May 17, 2012 5:03 pm • link • report

30 minutes? I wish it was only that short - I personally witnessed a full 1 hour, 10 minute gap in Orange line service on Sunday afternoon.

After a 25-mile bike ride, I foolishly decided to attempt to take it with me and ride the Orange line train back to East Falls Church.

I waited. 2 blue trains came and went. Still no Orange line train.

A full 50!!! minutes later, and ascertaining (via a mobile app) that the next Orange line train was still 20 minutes away, I grabbed my bike, left the station, paid the minimum fare without even getting on a train (completely bogus, as others have pointed out), and got back on my bike.

I made it back to East Falls Church just as the Orange line train was pulling in.

So I waited a full 50 minutes, paid Metro without even riding, and still outhustled the train the six miles back home. Shameful. Never again will I ride Metro on weekends.

by J.D. on May 17, 2012 5:09 pm • link • report

This is the reason I gave up riding Metro.

I can ride from my Office in G'town to my home in Silver Spring in 45-60 minutes, 25 minutes in a car. Metro a minimum of 45 minutes under ideal circumstances. But circumstances were rarely ideal. There were so many delays and headways, however, that I was frequently taking over 90 minutes to get home.

by SJE on May 17, 2012 5:56 pm • link • report

Mainland, two weekends ago, they were pulling the short-turn trains into NYA, offloading them, then turning them around and using the crossover between NYA and Union Station. If they were using the railyard, I would understand. Seeing as they're doing the turn-around in station, they should do it at Brookland if the work doesn't start until Takoma.

by Ms. D on May 17, 2012 6:53 pm • link • report

Sorry, I'm slightly incorrect, thinking back. The train headed back towards Shady Grove was on the right side of the platform when it pulled in (right side to head to Shady Grove, that is. Therefore, they would use the crossover after RIA to "single track" to Brookland for every other train, turn it around at Brookland, and come back. Slightly different pattern, same results.

by Ms. D on May 17, 2012 7:01 pm • link • report

Eric Fidler:

It takes time to turn a train. For one the operator has to walk 6-8 cars from one end to the other, change destination, switch over control between cars, etc.

The trains also run in scheduled slots. So, if an outbound train is switching to inbound, say at Silver Spring, it has to depart in its scheduled slot so if a train inbound from Glenmont is delayed it has to wait before it switches to the inbound track.

If all of this was done while the train was parked on the mainline track, it could delay trains behind it. The pocket track allows trains much more time (until the next train turning at that station arrives) to turn without delaying any others. Of course they're much more useful during peak periods, than in off-peak.

The following stations have pocket tracks:
Grosvenor-Strathmore
Farragut North
Silver Spring
National Airport (has been removed)
east of Stadium-Armory
Mount Vernon Square
West Falls Church

by Quizno on May 17, 2012 7:14 pm • link • report

Quizno,

What you are saying is correct, but irrelevant to this case. Metro can (and does) short-turn trains without pocket tracks during non-rush hours. Given that none of the weekends in question feature that kind of train frequency, there's no reason it can't be done more.

Metro already short-turns trains without a pocket track regularly. They do it with Yellow line trains every day outside of rush hours at Fort Totten. As mentioned in the comments, they've been doing in more recently during weekend track work on the Red line between NoMa and Van Ness.

by Alex B. on May 17, 2012 7:37 pm • link • report

Metro service is so bad during weekends that I am willing to pay a cab from Cleveland Park to Courthouse... the trip can take more than an hour between single tracking and loosing a train at metro center. The cab ride is just ~10 minutes... It is sad... It is hard to support public transit if it is so deficient.

by WM on May 17, 2012 9:30 pm • link • report

@Ms.D

So looking back there were two stretches of single tracking on the Red Line two weekends ago: Van Ness - Dupont and Forest Glen - Takoma

It sounds like they were using the crossover between Union & NoMa to make the turns, so my routing scenario holds. One end of the short turn trains (Farragut North) came from a pocket track, so they used that switch rather than the Brentwood quasi-pocket track.

Now, I can't say for sure why they chose to turn trains at NoMa and not further north. They had trains leaving Glenmont/Shady Grove every, so they said, 24 minutes with the short turn trains ensuring 12 minute headways in the core. Maybe they just took the short turn trains just far enough to give them that magic 12 minute figure!? Rounding up a few extra trains to keep reasonable headways while turning at Brookland/Totten should not have been difficult.

Then again, with the double single tracking they might just have wanted to keep the short turns as short as possible.

by Mainland on May 17, 2012 9:52 pm • link • report

I've lived in the DC area for over a decade and used to take Metro everyday, but ever since the manual service was instituted and the crazy single-tracking schedule, I avoid it as much as possible.

I live in NoMA, but I only take the Red Line on weekends to go to points north. The service is so unpredictable that I can't handle the tunnel waits in the underground sections with my claustrophobia. I prefer to walk or take buses (the 80, X2, 90 series, and the Circulator are my friends) during the days or drop money on cabs in the evenings.

by Craig on May 17, 2012 11:10 pm • link • report

After living in Silver Spring for 5 years and experiencing all the (dis)service that WMATA has dished out (e.g. single tracking every weekend, no estimated arrival times, etc) I truly, honestly believe that the ONLY way metro will ever become bearable is if they anger so many people that nobody rides it for enough time to do a total system replacement.

These days, the only time I take the metro is if I could theoretically get somewhere an hour early.

by Steve on May 18, 2012 8:53 am • link • report

20 minute headways on rail is unacceptable. On buses...maybe. In Montreal, where I am moving for the next nine months, headways are ten minutes. Of course it closes at midnight and one on weekends.

by Redline SOS on May 18, 2012 11:26 am • link • report

My wife and I stopped considering Metro on the weekends due to the lack of service. We use Metro all the time during the week and would like to use it on the weekends.

by Rob on May 18, 2012 1:05 pm • link • report

Dan, thanks for writing this post! I think it outlines the frustrations weekend riders feel on a regular basis.

Sometimes I feel like us car-less folks are being punished by the powers that be. I've pretty much resigned myself from taking the train outside of rush hour, just because of the infrequency. Even on weekdays they've been doing some pretty gnarly single-tracking, which pretty much renders the PIDS screens useless. For example, my trip from King Street to RI Ave last night was a two hour nightmare that involved four (yes, 4) different lines due to combination single tracking, post-Nats game congestion, and lack of updates from Metro (certainly didn't help that I left my CaBi key at home).

If we want to be a world-class city, we need a world-class transit system. Period.

by John Marzabadi on May 18, 2012 2:57 pm • link • report

A nice option that they could do but i know will never happen is give the passengers discounts when there is massive delays on a line or a particular station.

There have been many times when unannounced delays have happened after I entered the system and would have rather left and got a refund but they don't do that usually (I remember them doing it about 1 or 2 times in the past 20 years).

What is with the PIDs in the stations; what kind of time are they on. I actually clocked them before. One that said 3 minutes and it took nearly 4 minutes another said 1 minute and took 2 plus minutes. Another time the sign was switching between counting up and down; one moment it said 5 minutes you turn around it said 6 and then went back to 5.

by kk on May 18, 2012 3:16 pm • link • report

Complaining about the PIDS being off by a minute? Really? It can only estimate how long the train will take (based on where the train currently is). It can't be 100% accurate obviously; I think a minute off is pretty damn good. There isn't some magic fairy dust in the PIDS that can account for people holding doors, or crowded platforms, or people who are slow to exit/enter the train.

by MLD on May 18, 2012 3:37 pm • link • report

Get rid of the Union employees and fat contracts...and operate the system with a free-enterprise eye to customer service. That will solve much. This system is bloated with sloth and that is easily fixed.

by Pelham1861 on May 18, 2012 3:38 pm • link • report

Pelham1861: You have no idea what you're talking about. Under the "free-enterprise" system you suggest, there would be no public transit anywhere. It just doesn't make money. That's why all the private companies abandoned their operations during the 60's and 70's.

Maybe there could be more favorable contracts negotiated with the unions, but I suggest you spend some time working in transit without union backing.

Again, you really have no idea what you're talking about.

by Rich Sampson on May 18, 2012 3:41 pm • link • report

Did anyone even mention the best part about track work?

The Trip Planner on Metro’s website will not reflect the impact of this work on schedules.

So even if you WANTED to try to schedule a trip during this clusterf*** track work, the trip planner doesn't even have the information you need; it just assumes regular service!

EXTREME laziness.

by MLD on May 19, 2012 11:57 am • link • report