A highly unusual break in a section of rail forced a shutdown of part of the Red Line yesterday during the peak of the morning rush, delaying thousands of commuters and adding to mounting frustration with deteriorating Metro service.
A 54-inch horizontal fracture was discovered on a rail inside the tunnel at Judiciary Square Station about 7:40 a.m., after several trains reported an unusual noise and a bumpy ride. Part of the fractured rail broke off and was lodged under the high-voltage third rail, where the segment started to smoke.
A crowded Red Line train leaves Metro Center. Thousands of riders were delayed after fractured rail was discovered on the Red Line.
(James A. Parcell -- The Washington Post)
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A crew that was dispatched to investigate discovered the severed rail and halted Red Line service between Gallery Place and Brookland stations for 40 minutes, as it inspected the rest of the track in that area.
This was the first horizontal rail crack -- a rarity on transit systems -- in Metro's 28-year history, puzzling track specialists. Vertical fractures are much more common because of how trains exert pressure on the rails. The fractured rail was manufactured by Bethlehem Steel, installed in February and expected to have a life span of at least 20 years.
Metro officials sent the broken rail to a metallurgical laboratory for analysis that should explain how the fracture formed, what might have caused it and whether there was a flaw in the steel or the manufacturing process, said Fred Goodine, Metro's assistant general manager for safety. He said he ruled out sabotage, environmental conditions and debris as causes.
The incident marked the second time this month that a crack has been found in a Metro track. On Oct. 4, a crack was discovered where two sections of track had been welded together at the Fort Totten Station.
Metro track is inspected twice a week by track walkers and is checked twice annually with ultrasound equipment designed to detect flaws not visible to humans.
Sperry Rail Service, the company that performs the ultrasonic inspection, checked the rails at Fort Totten and Judiciary Square in August and reported no flaws. Metro officials have called a meeting with Sperry executives for next week to review inspection procedures. Phone calls to Sperry's corporate headquarters were not returned.
As a result of yesterday's incident, Metro will double the frequency of its visual track inspections. Track walkers will check every foot of the railroad each day, Deputy General Manager James Gallagher said.
But Gallagher said the incident was not indicative of widespread problems. "The railroad is safe," he said.
Metro managers reopened the line at 8:40 a.m., but one track in the affected area remained shut for nearly three hours as crews cut out and replaced a 14-foot section of rail. Delays rippled across the Red Line, which is the most heavily traveled of Metro's five subway lines. During the morning rush on a typical weekday, 150,528 people enter the fare gates at Red Line stations.
Crowds filled platforms and packed trains, which loitered at stations or crept along in a pattern that doubled the time of many trips. One woman boarded a train at Shady Grove at 7:30 a.m. and emerged at Dupont Circle at 10:10 a.m.
Metro sent 41 buses to shuttle passengers between Gallery Place and Brookland stations, but the buses could handle just a fraction of the riders that Metro carries. Many riders complained about a lack of warning before they paid their fares and entered the subway. "Nobody said anything out loud that I could hear," said Karen Burditt, 42, an architect who boarded at Silver Spring.
Pulling into Fort Totten, the operator of a downtown Red Line train announced to the standing-room-only cars and the packed platform, "Red Line -- destination unknown."
About 200 senior Metro executives were meeting to discuss ways to improve service when they learned of the problem. They headed for the nearest stations to help, spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. They might have been well intentioned, but they weren't very helpful, Burditt said. "There were lots of Metro management people around [Gallery Place Station]. But they were just listening to the intercom and repeating back what they heard. I give them an A for effort -- they were obviously trying -- but I'm not sure how effective they were."
James Shook grew so annoyed by the snail's pace of his ride that he and a co-worker bailed out at Van Ness Station and hailed a cab. "We just said, 'This is nuts, and we've got to get off if we want to get to work sometime in our lifetimes,' " he said.
For the first time in its history, Metro officials reduced the afternoon fares and charged off-peak rates during the rush to compensate for the poor service. The move cost the agency about $150,000.
Yesterday's mishap was the latest in a string of Red Line service problems. "Delays get worse weekly," said Justin Romero, whose ride from Shady Grove to Farragut North took two hours and 46 minutes. "I remember when a trip from Shady Grove to Farragut North was 45 minutes max. No more. If my commute runs under an hour either way with no delay, I feel blessed."
Staff writers Ann Gerhart, Martha Hamilton and David Montgomery contributed to this report.
