WAMU 88.5 : Morning Edition

Filed Under:

Metro Investigating Rail Cars After Doors Opened While Trains Moved

By: Armando Trull // May 16, 2012
Play associated audio
comments
The doors opened on two of Metro's Red line trains while the trains were moving May 15. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_t_in_dc/3557473943/
The doors opened on two of Metro's Red line trains while the trains were moving May 15. 

Metro Transit officials are investigating reports that doors on two Metrorail cars opened while the train was moving.

Passengers on Metro's Red line are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping the doors won't suddenly open on their moving trains this morning. That's exactly what happened yesterday on two packed Red line trains as they moved between the Van Ness and Tenleytown stations around 9 a.m. 

No one was injured, but Metro has taken those two trains out of service and is trying to determine why those doors failed. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel told the Washington Post that the door malfunctions are "extremely, extremely rare." 

Both of the cars were 1,000 series models -- the same ones involved in the 2009 Red line crash that killed nine and injured many more. They the oldest rains in Metro's fleet and they make up a quarter of metro's train contingent. 

Arts & Culture

NPR

Nostalgia For Sale As Captain Kangaroo's Pals Are Auctioned Off

A giant lot of Captain Kangaroo memorabilia goes on the auction block this week in Los Angeles. Among the items up for auction are several of the Captain's signature jackets, Mr. Grean Jeans' famous jeans and the life-sized costume worn by Dancing Bear.

Food

NPR

Giant Renaissance Food People Descend Upon New York

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a 16th-century artist who liked to play with his food, transforming it into the building blocks of many of his fantastical portraits. Artist Philip Haas has taken those portraits out of museums, reinterpreting them as colossal statues that interact with the natural environment.

Politics

NPR

Is There Really A Second-Term Curse?

Whether it's President Richard Nixon's resignation or President Bill Clinton's impeachment, presidents tend to have a tough time during the back half of an eight-year presidency.

Technology

NPR

Young Kenyans Build Mobile Apps For Local Use

College students and recent graduates crammed the top floor of a tech hub in Nairobi for a competition built around the theme "Solutions for the Next Billion Mobile Users." Africa has more than 600 million mobile phone users (approximately 11 percent of the global total) – and the number is growing.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.