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WASHINGTON — Metro is now selling special-edition versions of its SmarTrip payment cards to commemorate the upcoming presidential inauguration. The cards, which sell for $10 and provide unlimited Metro access the day of the inauguration, feature an image of the White House against a red-white-and-blue flag backdrop. Notably absent? Any reference to the soon-to-be 45th president of the United States: Donald Trump. The 2013 and 2009 inauguration-edition SmartTrip cards both featured a smiling image of President Barack Obama.

The Federal Transit Administration is raising questions about whether Metro rail ties are the proper size to keep tracks safely in place. A federal inspection report released Wednesday says inspectors have “consistently noted” WMATA crossties on mainline track that are 7 1/2 inches. Metro’s own standards call for rail ties at switches to have at least an 8-inch face. The inspection report noted that as of Sept. 24, Metro had not responded to federal inspectors’ questions about crossties that are a half inch narrower than internal standards. It is not clear how many of the smaller crossties exist in the...

A man attacked a Metrobus driver with a weapon and hijacked his bus Tuesday morning, D.C. police said. The bus then struck a pedestrian, who later died. It's not clear where the bus was taken from, but police say the bus in now stopped at a gas station in the 4300 block of Minnesota Avenue in Northeast Washington. Police say the suspect got on the bus and attacked the bus driver with a weapon. The driver managed to get off the bus, but suffered a back injury in the process. He is expected to be OK. The suspect then drove...

The Department of Transportation is appointing three new members to the board that oversees Washington’s Metrorail system to improve safety at the beleaguered transit agency. The announcement on Thursday comes amid heavy frustration with Metro’s continued safety problems and rail disruptions, including an unprecedented shutdown of the entire system for emergency inspections last month. “Building a safety culture is not easy and requires relentless focus at every level,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement. “These three new Federal members will build on our promise to bring a laser-like focus on making the transit system of our nation’s capital...

If you live any distance beyond the Capital Beltway you probably didn’t notice, but an important part of government in Washington shut down on Wednesday, March 16. That’s when the Metro subway system’s recently installed general manager, Paul Wiedefeld, ordered a one-day shutdown of the entire 117-mile system for emergency inspection of track-based power cables.

What the heck is wrong with us? On Wednesday, Washington, D.C.’s entire Metro subway system shut down with almost no notice to perform emergency inspections, just days after a cable fire “crippled” three lines. The nation’s second-busiest rail system has been plagued by safety problems in recent years, including a 2015 incident where smoke from an electrical malfunction killed one person and a deadly 2009 crash on the system’s Red Line that killed nine people. And with a new Metro chief that has been vocal about returning to a culture that puts safety first, many say that Wednesday’s move is...

In an unprecedented move to protect Washington Metro riders’ safety, the entire transit system was closed for a day last week in order to conduct emergency inspections of electric cables. This had to be done, since a rash of fires, fatalities and other breakdowns has raised concerns about the 40-year-old rail system’s continued capacity to deliver safe, reliable service. Currently the Metro Rail fares cover only a portion of its operating expenses. The system is completely dependent on its parent jurisdictions for paying any capital costs. Without state support, the necessary money would not be available. Few events better highlight...

Washington DC is shutting down the entire subway system on Wednesday with no notice for urgent safety checks The entire Washington, DC, subway system will shut down for at least 29 hours to inspect electrical components on the tracks following a fire near one of the system's tunnels, officials said on Tuesday. The shutdown comes after a fire broke out on Monday about 4.30am in the tunnel outside the McPherson Square station in downtown Washington. The fire led to delays on the orange, blue and silver lines, which go through the station. The Metro subway system will shut down at...

WASHINGTON — Metrorail will shut down entirely for more than a day beginning at midnight Wednesday for safety checks, Metro has announced. Metrorail will reopen at 5 a.m. Thursday. Metro General Management Paul Wiedefeld says that the 29 hours should be enough time to inspect 600 underground jumper cables that provide power to the energized third rail to run the trains. There is no word yet of the closure’s impact on federal offices or its employees — many of whom rely on Metro to get to work. The Office of Personnel Management says it will provide an update later today....

A DC couple was brutally beaten at a Metro station in Washington DC after watching a movie Saturday night. Police are looking for several youths in a spree of recent Metro beatings. The youths sucker-punched the couple and kicked their faces. This is the fourth such attack in the last month on Metro passengers. The media has mostly covered up this story. The young couple said they would have likely found another way home if they would have heard about the number of recent beatings.

Union Station Metro is closed due to police activity, Metro reported. Bus service is being requested to transport passengers. No other information about the nature of the incident was immediately confirmed. Stay with News4 and NBC Washington for more on this developing story.

Dashing Baltimore's hopes for an east-west light rail line, Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday that he will not build the $2.9 billion Red Line. "The current proposal makes no sense whatsoever," the governor told a State House news conference. But Hogan, making his first appearance since announcing Monday he has cancer, gave mass transit advocates a limited victory by giving the green light to construction of a slimmed-down version of the Purple Line light rail project in the Washington suburbs. During his campaign last year, Hogan had said the state could not afford either project. After he took office, however,...

WMATA has submitted to the assassin’s veto.Following the cowardly policy change for the New York MTA, the Washington MTA has suspended all issue-oriented ads through the end of year after we submitted our free speech ad.Oh, the irony.This is an end run around the first amendment.These cowards may claim that they are making people safer, but I submit to you the opposite. They are making it far more dangerous for Americans everywhere. Rewarding terror with submission is defeat. Absolute and complete defeat.More demands, more violence will certainly follow. The message is that terror works.This is sharia in America.The only upside...

The L'Enfant Plaza Metro station has been evacuated due to smoke in the station. Metro says trains are bypassing the station and the station has been temporarily closed. Metro says the source of the smoke has not been determined and it has activated tunnel fans to ventilate the area.

Washingtonians and visitors seeking to attend Veterans Day ceremonies or to pay their respects to the fallen at Arlington National Cemetery this year will need to allocate extra time in getting there. That's because the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has cancelled all Blue line rail service on the federal holiday, and it's the only line that services the Arlington National Cemetery Metro train station. The public transportation authority isn't shutting down for mandated safety repairs, which have plagued the agency since a 2009 fatal accident. Rather, service is being cancelled for "a major concert." The concert, billed as "The...

The small suburban independent city of Falls Church, Va.—which is treated as the equivalent of a county by the Census Bureau--had a higher median household income in 2012 than any county in the United States, according to data released in December by the Census Bureau.In the Census Bureau’s ranking of the 30 counties with the highest median household incomes, the City of Falls Church rose from the No. 2 spot in 2011 to the No. 1 spot in 2012, overtaking Loudon County, Va.While treated as the equivalent of a county by the Census Bureau, the City of Falls Church had...

Fairfax County residents have watched cranes and bulldozers rip up roads and disrupt commutes for the dramatic aerial structures that will carry Metro’s newest rail line through Tysons Corner and into Reston. Now that the Silver Line is about to open, many potential riders have one simple question: Where do we park? The answer: You probably don’t. Fairfax officials did not include parking garages at the four Silver Line stations in Tysons. That decision has been cheered by “smart growth” advocates, but residents are concerned that their streets will become de facto Metro parking lots. And some potential Silver Line...

It has been a busy month for black mob violence, starting in the nation’s capital. Just one day before journalists and celebrities from around the world gathered for the White House Correspondent’s Dinner on April 27th, police prepared for mob violence. Not from Georges Will or Clooney. But from a black mob that created violence the day before at Union Station just a few blocks from the White House. And was rumored to be preparing an encore performance. On a Friday conference call, police convinced each other they were ready. Turns out they were not. This episode of black mob...

It expects to build 23 more at over $900,000 a piece The city of Arlington just recently opened an impressive bus stop with a not-so-impressive price tag of $1 million. The “super stop” in Arlington, Virginia is unlike any other bus stop. It has a custom designed roof made of glass and steel; a wall of etched glass; heaters in the floor; gorgeous landscaping, and concrete/stainless steel benches. The bus stop has 10-inch high curbs, 90 feet of concrete and can shelter 15 people at a time while waiting for buses to arrive – all at a cost of $1...

No one knows what the two white women were doing on that Metro in that part of Washington, D.C. Ads by Google Clothes and DressesUp to 90% Discount at CashCashPinoy. Join Now! lp.CashCashPinoy.com Trade Forex with FxProStart trading Forex online now. Open an account for free! www.fxpro.com They “did not want any trouble,” they said on the video. To the black mob that confronted them, threatened them, beat them and robbed them, it was no trouble at all. So they grabbed their iPhones, but not before the girls fought back to retrieve them. Unsuccessfully. All the while one of the...