Metro Service Reopens at Clarendon Station
'Residual Delays' Expected on Orange, Blue Lines This Morning

By Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:53 AM

A smoking light fixture at the Clarendon Metro stop halted Metrorail service at four heavily used Arlington stops for about 40 minutes this morning, transit officials said.

The smoke was reported at 8:56 a.m., said Steven Taubenkibel, a spokesman for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The origin of the problem was not immediately clear.

The light fixture is situated between the rails in the Clarendon station, Taubenkibel said, and it was deemed unsafe to have trains passing over the smoking area.

Passengers trying to travel into the District had to exit the system at Ballston. Those coming out of the District into Virginia could go no farther than Court House; some outbound trains were forced to turn back several stops earlier, at McPherson Square in the District, because other trains were backed up ahead of them on the rails. Shuttle buses were summoned to ferry passengers between the closed stops.

By 9:40 a.m., the situation was resolved and the Clarendon station was reopened, officials said. A commuter advisory posted on the WMATA website said passengers should expect "residual delays" on the Orange and Blue lines this morning.