Metro will suspend all rail and bus service from Friday night until Monday morning because of the expected blizzard, the Washington region’s transit service announced Thursday afternoon.
“This is not a storm that anyone should take lightly, and I would urge all residents to plan to get to a safe place before the storm arrives Friday afternoon,” Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a news conference Thursday. “The actions we are taking today are all in the interest of our customers’ and employees’ safety, and will help us return to service once the storm passes and the snow is cleared.”
The transportation agency will terminate all Metro rail services at 11 p.m. Friday and remain closed through Saturday and Sunday. Officials said they believe it will be the longest closure since the rail system opened in 1976.
Bus service will operate on a “severe” snow weather plan, which will limit service to popular areas. At 5 p.m. Friday, all routes will be suspended through Sunday.
The last pickups for the MetroAccess paratransit service for riders with disabilities will be at 1 p.m. Friday and will shut down completely at 6 p.m. The service will remain closed through the weekend as well.
Metro said it has assigned 900 employees to handle the agency’s snow response, which includes parking hundreds of railcars underground in tunnels and spreading 18,000 pounds of de-icer at stations and on the rails.
The Emergency Command Center will commence at 4 p.m. Friday to provide continual coordination of the agency’s response to the storm.
