John Matthews and Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Should Metro resolve to restore its late night hours on the rail system as soon as possible – and if so, how should it go about doing that?

Those questions are central to a marathon public hearing being held Thursday where people can weigh in on four options that Metro is considering to cut service hours to give work crews more access to the tracks.

In 1998, Metro had 44 maintenance hours per week, but those houses eroded over the years as more stations came on line. By the time the Safe Track initiative began earlier this year, the off-hours were down to 33 – a 25 percent cut in time with a dozen more stations in operation.

During Safe Track, Metrorail has been closed 39 hours a week, and proposed changes would give maintenance crews 41 hours a week of downtime in which to work.

The first two options being considered would have Metrorail close at or before midnight every day. The third option would have the system close at 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 11 p.m. Sunday. The last option would close Metro at 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Midnight Mondays through Thursdays, and 11pm on Sundays, however under that last scenario, Metro would not open until Noon on Sundays.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld says chipping away at hours available for track work and maintenance will prohibit Metro from maintaining the system over the long haul.

DC Transportation Director and Metro board member Leif Dormsjo says other transit systems in the country don’t need 41 hours of maintenance a week, citing cities including Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco and Los Angeles that are all open more hours per week than Metro. He wonders whether Metro can learn something from those cities that would help it to carve out more hours to remain open.

Wiedefeld says it’s great to learn what other systems do, but Metro has such a big backlog of maintenance that it needs all of this time to make all the necessary repairs.

Metro has proposed adding supplemental bus service to provide customers with travel alternatives when the rail system is closed. Those buses could have extended routes into the suburbs as well.

Many Metro board members have expressed concern with how restaurant workers and other people who work late will get home if there are no late night trains.

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