About

Stephen Repetski is a Virginia native and has lived in the Fairfax area for over 20 years. He has a BS in Applied Networking and Systems Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology and works in Information Technology. Learning about, discussing, and analyzing transit (especially planes and trains) is a hobby he enjoys.

Contact the author at metroreasons@srepetsk.net or on Twitter at @MetroReasons.

Popular posts from this blog

Metro to suspend Silver Line service during summer platform shutdown

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All nine Metrorail stations west of Ballston will be shut down this upcoming summer as Metro forges ahead with its Orange Line platform replacement program, instead of just three stations on the Orange line. All Orange line stations from East Falls Church to Vienna will be closed, as well as all Silver line stations from East Falls Church to Wiehle beginning May 23. There is no scheduled reopening date, although Metro has previously said they should reopen by September 7, Labor Day. The summer closure is part of Metro's multi-year project to demolish and rebuild platforms at 20 outdoor stations which began in 2019. All six rail stations south of National Airport on the Yellow and Blue lines were closed for 107 days from Memorial Day to around Labor Day. Green line stations north of Fort Totten were originally set to close this summer, but Metro postponed that closure. Metro's original project schedule  required the closures of Vienna, Dunn Loring, and East Falls Church sta
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Metro planning to close 17 stations, 9 additional entrances

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Metro officials are planning to cut the number of open rail stations on Thursday, according to an agency press release . Nineteen stations (17 new) will be completely closed with trains bypassing, and ten other stations will have one entrance closed but still with service. The plans originally were set to go into effect on Wednesday, March 25, according to Metro Reasons sources, but were delayed a day. Agency officials say they take this step "in the interest of ensuring the availability and safety of our employees," and targeted stations and entrances with low ridership. Stations set to close on Thursday Archives Arlington Cemetery Braddock Road Cheverly Clarendon Cleveland Park College Park East Falls Church Eisenhower Federal Center SW Federal Triangle Greensboro Grosvenor Judiciary Square McLean Morgan Boulevard Mount Vernon Square Smithsonian Van Dorn Virginia Square Entrances to close; stations remain open Anacostia (north) Farragut North
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Metrorail data show ridership declines, less late-night use

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Metro told riders making non-essential trips to stay off the rail system, and stay off they have indeed. Metrorail trips on Wednesday totaled 40,000, down 95 percent from the same day last year. The stark ridership numbers come just three weeks after Metro activated Phase 3 of its Pandemic Flu Plan in response to the COVID-19 outbreak which began a series of service cuts to "help protect employees and customers." On Friday, April 3rd, Metro announced further cuts to rail service: Metrorail will close at 9pm nightly until further notice. "Metro's ridership drop-off has been particularly acute after 9 p.m.," read the press release provided by the agency. The total counts of SmarTrip cards tapped when entering the rail system do suggest that the lowest-ridership hours are the ones latest in the evening. The rail system began closing at 11 p.m. daily on March 17th  which cut off half an hour at the end of each weekday and reduced service by two hours on
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