WASHINGTON–Metro can’t seem the catch a break from week to week. Despite the positive news at the beginning of the week with the debut of the transit agency’s latest set of rail cars, Wednesday saw major delays following a bridge collapse.
Greenbelt pedestrian bridge collapses
As if the evening commute needed something to slow it down, a pedestrian bridge collapse Wednesday at the Greenbelt station made that possible.
A Metro contractor’s excavator struck the bridge, causing a portion of it to crash onto a construction vehicle. This shut the station down, and Metro suspended train service between College Park and Greenbelt on the Green Line, causing rush hour delays.
There were no pedestrians on the bridge at the time of the incident, and no one was hurt.
The bridge collapsed shortly before 3 p.m. and construction workers were all over the scene by 4 p.m. trying to gauge the damage, according to The Washington Post.
Buses shuttled passengers from the College Park station to the one in Greenbelt. The Greenbelt station reopened Thursday morning.
Fence fight about Purple Line
One fence is the cause of serious contention in a fight about the Purple Line, the long-proposed light rail project. The case might be sent to the state’s highest court, which could complicate the proposed plans and add to the already hefty price tag, which stands at $2.4 billion.
The six-foot high wooden fence, built by a Chevy Chase homeowner along a trail that runs between Bethesda and Silver Spring, is on county property that is part of a planned route for the Purple Line, according to The Washington Post.
The current ruling in the lower court is that fence owner and Purple Line opponent Ajay Bhatt did not violate county law when he built the fence 14 feet from his property in 2013. Montgomery County lawyers appealed this decision, and the Maryland Court of Appeals is expected to decide in the next few months whether it will hear the case or let the lower court ruling stand, the Post said.
New train debuts on the Blue Line
The future is here, and it’s called the 7000-series train. Metro debuted its new rail cars Tuesday morning on the Blue Line.
The 7000-series cars are the first of the sleek additions to the fleet and are expected to be joined by 528 of their counterparts in the coming months and years.
These technologically advanced trains–which feature non-slip flooring, lumbar support vinyl-covered seats and LCD maps–are set to be mass produced by Kawasaki Motors in Nebraska.