Riders took about 700,000 trips on Metro to attend President Obama’s second inauguration — a sizable drop from the 1.1 million Metrorail rides in 2009 — but they battled problems ranging from a disabled train and switch problems to crowded platforms and long lines for fare cards.

Though fewer riders used Metro than on a normal weekday, they were all headed to the same place at the same time, creating bottlenecks at escalators, fare gates and train doors.