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Metro reports big strides in track work slowed by summer heat

WASHINGTON — Metro’s own report card on its latest round of track work shows that crews were able to complete a great deal, but August’s hot weather slowed productivity and left some work unfinished.

With rail service limited for 13 days on the Red Line between Shady Grove and Twinbrook stations, Metro says its crews were able to replace 3,572 crossties, repair power cables and track junction boxes, and improve drainage. But August was marked by extreme heat, humidity and electrical storms, and Metro says the weather slowed productivity.

Still, the amount of work completed in this recent surge would have taken more than two years to accomplish if done during closed periods of a fully operational system, according to Metro’s analysis.

Only 86 percent of the track work was completed in the work zone, leaving 14 percent to be rescheduled.

The special track maintenance on the Red Line was extended for three days and included two weekend shutdowns, which gave crews the chance to make repairs on both sets of tracks in the work zone.

Metro fare evasion crackdown sparks police confrontation concerns

WASHINGTON — Amid complaints that Metro’s fare evasion crackdown is leading to people being pinned to the ground or pepper-sprayed unnecessarily by police, Metro’s general manager said Thursday that the crackdown is necessary to ensure that other rules are followed and that Metro gets all of the funding it is entitled to. “The way WMATA treats its riders, particularly people of color, is unacceptable,” Brianna Musselman told the Metro Board Thursday. She recorded video of a man being pinned to the ground and pepper-sprayed by Metro police at the Gallery Place station in June, during an encounter that began when officers said the man tried to enter the rail system without paying.
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