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Metro Considers Pulling The Rug From Under Riders
READY FOR UPDATE: Mechanic Simon Jules rips up a rail car's carpeting, replaced every five years.
(Photos By James A. Parcell -- The Washington Post)
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"It's an excellent job, yes, ma'am," said Henry Walker, 48, the gluer. "I'm doing the time instead of the time doing you."
For all the fuss about cushions and carpets, some riders say they don't really notice.
At the Farragut North Station on a recent morning, a man in a business suit rifled through his thick file folder for a document. Did he remember the color of the carpet on his train? He paused for a moment, then replied: "Drab."
But some regular riders see everything. They notice if the armrests don't match the seats. Or if the carpet is the new hue, but the seats are still orange and brown. Or if there are carpet fuzz balls.
Most said they did not want Metro to become like the New York subway, with hard plastic benches.
"Keep the seats," said Matt Thompson, 24, a graphic designer who lives in Germantown. He rides from the Shady Grove Station, at one end of the Red Line, to his office at the Farragut North Station in downtown Washington. It takes 32 minutes, and he appreciates a comfortable seat.
Riders are ambivalent about carpet. The important thing is to keep it clean, said Christina Haslinger, 53, who gets on at Forest Glen, on the other end of the Red Line. She said she'd gladly give up carpet if Metro bought heaters for outdoor platforms.
Then there's Daphne Nedd, 74, a cafe attendant who takes Metro from the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Station. Carpet prevents slips, she said. And it absorbs annoying sounds. "You don't want to be listening to heels on metal," she said.
