Metro officials say they still don’t know the cause of a train derailment Thursday morning at the Smithsonian station in D.C.
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Metro suspended traffic along the Blue and Orange lines between Federal Center SW and McPherson Square.
This latest disruption is just the most recent in a string of accidents for the beleaguered transit agency, the second largest rail system in America, so far this year.
Metro’s acting general manager, Jack Requa, said three cars of a train getting ready to go into service derailed.
The derailment led to severe delays during the morning and into the afternoon.
The stations didn’t open back up again until Thursday night around 8 p.m. Other Metro commuters had to deal with delays.
“Whenever we have this kind of a service disruption downtown, there’s really no way to run trains as frequently as we would normally run them, and that’s where folks start feeling that crowding, and that slow going”.
In July, Requa testified before Congress over safety concerns after a fatal incident in January near the L’Enfant Plaza left one woman dead.
Metro was offering bus service to help passengers reach their destination.
Passengers on a disabled train had to be walked off the train and down the tracks to the East Falls Church Station. Silver Line riders should switch to the Orange Line to continue their trip.
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There have also been issues on the red, green and yellow lines Friday morning.
