A Metro project quietly shelved last year is about to make an attempted comeback in 2021. The agency has a new plan to make its train doors open automatically at stations again, beginning on the Red Line in January, and coming to the rest of the system later in the year.
If this sounds like a repeat story, it’s not just you. Metro published two press releases in 2019 announcing a return to Automatic Door Operation (ADO), wherein doors of its Metrorail trains would automatically open when the train arrives into a station, rather than requiring the operator to press a button (or several) to get the doors to open.
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Libby Solomon is a writer and editor for GGWash. She was previously a reporter for the Baltimore Sun covering the Baltimore suburbs and a writer for Johns Hopkins University’s Centers for Civic Impact. A Baltimore resident, Libby enjoys running and painting in her spare time. Share
Metro Jul 7, 2020
A Metro train on the Red Line derailed outside the Silver Spring station Tuesday morning, forcing the suspension of train traffic in the area but not injuring any riders or workers, officials say. The train appears to have gone through a red signal right before it derailed, according to a preliminary investigation by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, the independent… Maryland Jul 7, 2020
Delayed fire & EMS dispatch & miscommunication confirmed during Metro train separation in MD
15 minutes lost before correct dispatch to November Glenmont incident
Dec 10, 2020
STATter911 confirms it took more than 15 minutes before Montgomery County 911 sent the appropriate fire and EMS units after a Metro train separated in Glenmont last month. Information provided by spokespersons, along with radio traffic, illustrate miscommunications resulting in fire and EMS dispatched initially for a medical emergency instead of a train that became uncoupled, stranding passengers. The timeline also shows Montgomery County’s Emergency Communications Center (ECC) lost six of those minutes while processing the initial erroneous report of someone needing medical help at the Glenmont Metro Station.