Stephen Repetski
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Past articles by Stephen:
This holiday, get on board this tour of train gardens
For over a century, in between blazes, cat rescues, and chili cook-offs, Baltimore-area firefighters have apparently spent their winter downtime arranging elaborate model train sets. → Read More
Metro had a plan to run more trains on the Fourth of July. It didn’t happen.
A draft proposal floated by Metro could have allowed the agency to run more trains for the Fourth of July. But in the end, Metro didn’t ask permission from the independent Metrorail safety oversight commission to do so, and the agency settled for amassing as many of its older railcars for the post-firework timeframe that it could. → Read More
Unapproved process change grounds Metro’s 7000-series railcars (again)
Metro’s 7000-series railcar fleet has been grounded, again, after problems with wheelset inspections caused the agency’s safety oversight body to reverse a plan to return them to service. → Read More
Metro’s 6000-series trains are on their way back
Talk about trainspotting. Some riders and railfans caught a glimpse of the 6000-series train cars on the Red Line last week. → Read More
Metro’s Rail Operations Control Center splits the system into three parts. Soon, it will be four.
Like the control tower at the airport, Metro has control centers that tell trains where to go. On Aug. 22, Metro made an addition that will spread out the workload and make the system safer and more reliable. → Read More
Metro takes one step back from automation (again)
Metro train operators will now resort back to manually pushing the buttons needed to open doors when trains berth to let riders on and off, as the automated system that opens doors when trains arrive at stations, which Metro rolled out on the Red Line in January, has once again been turned back off. → Read More
Bus and rail service is ramping back up throughout the region. Here’s what riders need to know.
Metro, Fairfax Connector, MARC, and other local transit agencies increased service during the month of August, restoring some of the service cut earlier in the year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But while transit service slowly returns towards the “old” normal, few other things in life are. As coronavirus cases and deaths continue, life remains upside-down for many. → Read More
Metro plans to reopen the Silver Line and other stations earlier than previously announced
Metro announced that six stations that were closed for maintenance work—McLean, Tysons Corner, Greensboro, Spring Hill, Wiehle, and West Falls Church—will reopen on August 16. → Read More
Silver Line Express buses are suspended, making transit options to Dulles even harder
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) is suspending its SIlver Line Express (SLE) bus, which runs between Dulles Airport and the Wiehle-Reston Metro station, beginning this upcoming weekend and lasting through the summer. → Read More
Metro will take advantage of low ridership by shuttering more stations for maintenance
Metro announced this week that it plans to shut down multiple stations on the Yellow and Green lines this summer. → Read More
Metro Reasons: Where did the Yellow and Green lines’ eight-car trains go?
The number of eight-car trains on the Yellow and Green lines has fallen in recent months, according to data from Metro analyzed by MetroHero. Both lines are budgeted for 100% eight-car trains, according to the agency’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget, but have been below that since the start of the Platform Improvement Project shutdown. → Read More
Metro Reasons: After 15 years, Arlington is moving ahead with plans for a second entrance at Ballston
Arlington County staff have been given the ‘go-ahead’ to move forward on planning for the eventual construction of a second entrance at the Ballston Metro station, according to project manager Bee Buergler. The project, over 15 years in the planning, has until recently been held up due to delays in the redevelopment of the building at 4420 Fairfax Drive. → Read More
Metro Reasons: Don’t go chasing waterfalls (at the Virginia Square stop)
Drivers had to be rescued from cars, streets flooded, and the Virginia Square Metro station developed a waterfall on Monday. The record-breaking rain showed how powerful large amounts of water can be and what it can do to infrastructure that isn’t built to handle it. → Read More
Metro Reasons: Riders and WMATA adapt during week 2 of the Blue and Yellow Line shutdown
The first week of the Yellow and Blue Line shutdown ended Friday without too many significant incidents after Metro, its contractors, and riders began to settle into the interim travel patterns. With more than 90 days still left in the shutdown, there is plenty of time for more things to go wrong, but also room for improvements like smoother trips and real-time bus tracking. → Read More
Metro Reasons: Metro extends its longest-ever shutdown by six days
The long summer shutdown which will close Yellow and Blue Line stations south of National Airport and affect about 17,000 riders just got six days longer. WMATA announced Thursday, April 18 that the shutdown will now run from May 25 through Sunday, September 8 instead of reopening on September 3 as previously expected. → Read More
Metro Reasons: WMATA passed a new budget. Here’s what’s in it for you.
In a unanimous decision on Thursday, March 28 the Metro Board of Directors approved a $3.5 billion budget for Metrorail, Metrobus, and MetroAccess for the next fiscal year starting July 1, 2019. The budget includes some perks for riders like re-extending the Yellow Line all the way to Greenbelt, but it doesn’t go as far as DC officials hoped in restoring late-night service hours. → Read More
Metro Reasons: Are shorter hours really helping Metro maintenance? Here’s what the data show.
Should Metro return to late night hours or keep them to make more time for badly-needed maintenence? As the debate continues in the region, there's been a dearth of data showing how useful the shorter service hours have actually been. But now we have data to help answer that question. → Read More
Metro Reasons: Metro removes some fire extinguishers to fight vandalism
Fire extinguishers will soon no longer be available for riders to use on Metro's fleet of rail cars. Some riders keep spraying them in the cars, so the agency says they’re being removed in order to reduce abuse. → Read More
Metro Reasons: Amid trackwork, Metro says service has improved—but for fewer riders
After a brief recovery in July, Metrorail ridership dropped to new four-year lows in August and September 2018, according to a new quarterly report Metro published on Friday, November 9. There's some good news too: the report also indicates that the system is becoming more reliable. → Read More
Metro Reasons: WMATA’s draft 2018 budget could be good news for riders
A Metro press release issued early Monday morning offers something that Metrorail riders haven’t had very much of recently: potential good news. The agency’s General Manager is proposing to extend rush hour service and reduce weekend fares, among several other rider-friendly proposals. → Read More