Update: 2:50 p.m.
Metro says the problem with the Dupont Circle escalator appears to stem from the handrail. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said the handrail issue activated the emergency stop mechanism, causing the escalator to jolt to a stop.
She said no one was reported injured in Monday’s incident. A maintenance crew is working on the handrail problem, she said.
The Metro system has been known to have problems with its escalators but usually because they were already broken down, not breaking down with riders aboard.
But now they are resembling amusement park rides, without the amusement. The cases are adding up – another one during the morning commute — and now you can see what’s been happening for yourself with new video of one incident.
On Monday, TBD.com was reporting that an escalator at the south entrance of Dupont Circle bucked riders around 9:20 a.m. We are still waiting for a Metro response to this incident.
Earlier this month, a Foggy Bottom escalator collapsed while carrying riders.
No one appears to have been seriously injured in those incidents.
Not so in October, though, when an escalator’s brakes failed at L’Enfant Plaza, causing it to speed up, dumping riders in a heap at the bottom. At least six people were injured then. Fox 5 posted surveillance video, obtained from a public information request.
