The Daily Feed, WMATA, WTF?!

Metro = Sweatbox

Photo courtesy of
‘Metro Center’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

I’ve been around these parts for a while now, and in all my Metro riding experience, nothing has ever been *quite* as hot underground as the sweatbox otherwise known as Metro Center. I hop off my train to transfer there twice a day and walking out of the air conditioned car I’m hit with a wall of hot, humid grossness. And with the red line trains running much slower and farther apart, I’m left sweating on the platform for a very uncomfortable amount of time.

UnsuckDCMetro has been reporting that the “chiller” is broken at Metro Center and last week was supposed to be fixed “in a couple days”, whatever the heck that means. Ughhhh, nothing says professional like mopping sweat when you get to work, right?

But Metro Center can’t be the only sauna in the system right now, no way. So I ask you, dear readers, what’s the hottest Metro Station you’ve been to recently?

The Daily Feed, WMATA

New Metro Station PA Alert Sound

Have you been hearing the new Metro station sound? About twelve seconds into this rush hour video from Metro Center, listen for a familiar double chime (very like the default Windows Ding sound) followed by a service disruption announcement far better enunciated than Metro station alerts have usually been.

The new alert sound comes at an ironic lipstick-on-a-pig moment as the train in the video has overcrowding and door-closing problems.

Technology, The Daily Feed

Vault Life! (Fallout 3 in DC)

How awesome is it that we have Vault-themed ads for Fallout 3 on the Metro?

Vault Life!

For those not in the know, Fallout is a series of turn-based adventure/role-play games set in the barren wasteland of a post-apocalyptic anarchy, where you play a survivor newly emerged from an isolated subterranean bunker called The Vault. DC-focused trailer video and images after the jump.

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Downtown, Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WMATA

Red Line Delays Due to Track Fire

A small track fire on the Red Line at Metro Center prompted single tracking between Dupont Circle and Judiciary Square earlier this morning (around 7:30 AM), causing a cascade of delays down the Red Line in both directions all through the morning rush. The fire has been put out and trains are moving, but between 8:30 and 9:00 AM things were still a fair mess, with crowds of people filling trains and platforms to capacity.

To WMATA’s credit, communication with passengers from train and station PA systems was clear and thorough, and the rush hour crowd, though thick, flowed with tolerable courtesy and smoothness. (As quickly and safely as possible, as they say.) At least, that was my experience getting to work this morning. Does anyone else caught in the crowd feel differently?

(NBC4 reports that the fire started in a “stud post.” What are those?)