Woman falls on tracks, station exits jammed
Hundreds of thousands of people swarmed onto Metro trains this morning to head downtown for Barack Obama’s historic inauguration, crowding railcars, platforms and exits until traffic ground to a near halt in many stations. Some trains stopped entirely on the Red Line after a 68-year-old woman fell onto the track at Gallery Place/Chinatown. She was found conscious and breathing under a platform crawl space around 9:25 a.m., Metro officials said, and was taken to a local hospital. By 11 a.m., 510,590 riders had entered the rail system, when on a typical weekday the system carries about 770,000 over the course of a full day. Metro officials expect even heavier traffic this afternoon as crowds try to exit the National Mall and parade route at once.
Metro has long predicted that today would break ridership records. On Monday, riders took 866,681 trips, a new high for the system. The transit system is offering unprecedented service today with 22 hours of train service, including 19 hours of rush hour schedules and more eight-car trains than ever to handle the crowds.
Still, the system clogged early, soon after it opened at 4 a.m. Brian Payne, 39, from Baltimore arrived with friends at the New Carrollton stop at the start of the Orange line shortly after it opened, but there was already a long line to get into the parking lot. Then there was about a half hour line to get into the station.
“We didn’t know it would be this many people at the station,” Payne said. When he and others finally got to board a train around 5:10 a.m., the crowds were chanting “Obama, Obama, Obama.” Cameras flashed as they documented the journey.
As of 5:30 a.m. the parking lots at the Branch Avenue, New Carrollton and Greenbelt stations were full. Charter buses were stacked up at RFK Stadium. Full trains passed by crowded platforms, unable to fit any more passengers. Some decided to go against the crowds. At East Falls Church, Susie Carlson, 57, with her daughter Sonja, 16, couldn’t get into an inbound train so they took one going the opposite direction so they could ride it back when it turned around.
“We’re going out to come in,” said Carlson, who is visiting from San Francisco.
Many trains faced delays once full of passengers, though. A morning train from Vienna took more than an hour and a half to reach Metro Center, a ride that normally takes 29 minutes.
Metro officials had to close some stations around the Mall, such as L’Enfant Plaza, because of crowds above ground. Too many people were on the platforms trying to exit to bring in more trains.
At Metro Center, staffers closed off the stairs and escalators between the Red and Orange/Blue lines to limit transfers. Lines at the exits were some 30 feet deep at times. Metro officials opened the turnstiles at one exit because so many people had problems getting their farecards through. Metro expects similar crowds ‹ if not worse ‹ this evening.
Metro urges riders: € Do not block doors so that passengers cannot exit. € Stand clear of the closing doors because they can break if blocked, forcing everyone off the train. € Do not try to transfer between train lines. € Don’t flood the system at the same time. If a station looks full, try walking to another station, taking a bus or waiting out the traffic.
Ridership by the hour
6 a.m. 104,751
7 a.m. 207,335
8 a.m. 318,422
9 a.m. 409,828
10 a.m. 469,873
11 a.m. 510,590
