Metro's Lunchtime Chat Answered Two of My Questions Today, One Bizarrely

Shiva Pant, standing in for General Manager John Catoe, answered two of my questions

First question of session:

Alexandria, VA: Why has the slowdown on the Blue/Yellow Lines between Braddock Road and Nat'l Airport not been publicized? When will service return to normal? Another communications failure has befallen Metro.

Reply: Hi Alexandria! As you most likely are aware, we often have speed restrictions in place after conducting major track work. This is to ensure that the new trackbed, which was just installed over the Labor Day Weekend, has settled and is safe for trains to ride on at full speed. The speed restriction means that the trains are moving slower through the stretch of track that was replaced. It?s not actually delaying anyone?s trips.

Let's see. The Blue/Yellow lines have some speed restrictions (i.e., lowered speed limits), but that is not causing delays. Perhaps in another universe this is true, but, in ours, it is false. Lowered speed limits cause increased travel times, that is, delays. Normal service will resume when the track is ready. I really didn't know that. But, then I asked a more precise question about when it will be ready. A different view of reality and a nonanswer from someone without answers.

And, next:

Alexandria, va: The idea of a enabling a walking transfer between Farragut North and Farragut West has recently popped up. What are your thoughts on implementing this? In what kind of timeframe can this be done?

Reply: Hello Alexandria. Actually the idea of a ?walking transfer? is something that has been considered and I believe is actively being explored. It is something that is part of our next fare software upgrade. Once that is in place, we should be able to move forward with that idea. It would work by allowing riders x amount of minutes (that would be determined later) to walk between the Farraguts.

So, the idea of a Farragut Square walking transfer is on the table. Rejoice, O Readers of CommuterPageBlog and Greater Greater Washington!

I'll spare my rant about last night's Redskins game for another post. I can hear the rejoicing now.