Playoff baseball puts DC Metro closures in the spotlight

The Washington Nationals could be facing a showdown against the region’s Metrorail system.
   
{mosads}Transit officials have signaled that they are unwilling to keep the subway open past midnight — even during Major League Baseball playoff games — as the rail system undergoes a massive repair effort that entails closing early on weekends.

Although the first two Nationals games in the National League Division Series are scheduled for earlier time slots, city leaders, Metro board members and even team members are voicing concern over the potentially embarrassing travel hassles.

“I hope everybody takes an Uber and doesn’t take the train,” Bryce Harper, right fielder for the Nationals, told Comcast SportsNet on Tuesday. “Once the train leaves at 11:30, our stadium is empty. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.”

Metro Board Chairman Jack Evans has echoed a similar sentiment, saying that it would be an “embarrassment” for Washington if fans had to leave early to catch a train during the World Series, according to The Washington Post.

And Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer recently asked in a radio interview with 106.7 The Fan, “Isn’t it a supply and demand issue?”

The comments underscore the struggle of Metro officials who are striving to balance safety with reliable service.

The transit system, which has experienced a string of high-profile safety lapses in recent years, is under new leadership and implementing a major construction program called “SafeTrack” that involves partial shutdowns and continuous single-tracking in some areas.

Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld also implemented earlier closing times for the system, midnight instead of 3 a.m. on weekends,  to allow workers more time to perform repairs.

Officials are now considering ending late-night rail service permanently  as a way to give workers more time for long-term maintenance efforts in the future. The topic will be the subject of a public hearing on Thursday.

Wiedefeld has maintained that reopening the system for special circumstances could be a slippery slope and could disrupt the SafeTrack schedule, which has already been pushed back.

Adjusting the operating hours would give workers 20 percent more track access, or an extra eight hours per week, according to Wiedefeld.

“Metro is well aware of our concerns,” a Nationals spokesperson said in a statement.