Metro will provide an extra hour of service for Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference finals on Thursday after a topsy-turvy saga involving Qatar, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District and the transit agency ended in a deal, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced.
Bowser (D) announced the arrangement on Twitter earlier Thursday, and Metro confirmed late-night service would be in place — though its news release omitted any mention of Qatar.
Qatar and the @DowntownDCBID teamed up years ago to deliver City Center DC. Today, they’re doing it again to deliver late night Metro service to Caps fans. Beat the rain and Lightning, take Metro and let’s #GoCaps! @Amb_AlThani @QatarEmbassyUSA #ALLCAPS
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) May 17, 2018
Qatar Ambassador Meshal bin Hamad al-Thani said the agreement was a gesture of friendship and goodwill toward the local community.
“Qatar firmly believes in power of sports to bring people together in peace and friendship- our Embassy cherishes its role as a member of the DC community and we are pleased to partner with the Mayor, @DowntownDCBID and the Metro to get all Caps fans home safely tonight!” he wrote, punctuating the tweet with “#GoCaps.”
Qatar firmly believes in power of sports to bring people together in peace and friendship- our Embassy cherishes its role as a member of the DC community and we are pleased to partner with the Mayor, @DowntownDCBID and the Metro to get all Caps fans home safely tonight! #GoCaps https://t.co/mSrw32gFwD
— Meshal Hamad AlThani (@Amb_AlThani) May 17, 2018
The agreement comes after several days of negotiations that saw an apparent deal fall through after Qatar raised concerns about indemnification clauses in the contract, according to D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who is also the Metro board chairman. Changes to those clauses would have required a possibly contentious Metro board vote; there were also concerns about whether Metro was allowed to accept payments from a foreign government.
Asked on Wednesday how the arrangement between Qatar, Metro and the business improvement district was any different, Evans laid out his thinking.
“Metro is entering into the contract with the BID, not with Qatar,” Evans said. “Late-night service is very important, and I’m happy that the downtown bid was able to assist in making this happen as well as the government of Qatar.”
That answer was unlikely to satisfy many who saw the deal as an indirect payment from an oil-rich country to a struggling U.S. transit agency.
This is bizarre. Foreign oil-rich country ponying up cash for a public transit system in D.C. to stay open later to allow riders to get back home after an NHL playoff game.
— Jordan Pascale🎙️ (@JWPascale) May 17, 2018
A creative writer couldn't come up with that plot. https://t.co/YtFwp7wgtz
That's fun. DC Metro is such a disaster that the Qatari government is helping keep it afloat. https://t.co/2AhMeu5vfj
— Griffin Lahre (@GriffinLahre) May 17, 2018
The #Wmata soap opera is sad. When you heard the Country of Qatar was going to pay to keep subway open you had to chuckle. The Caps may have to negotiate with NHL and NBC to play at 6 in the future.
— Pete Medhurst (@PeteMedhurst) May 17, 2018
Metro said Caps fans leaving the arena could board trains from Gallery Place station, Metro Center’s 11th and G entrance or Judiciary Square’s F street entrance. The rest of the system will be “exit only.”