The Night the Lights Went Out on Metro

(Washington, DC) — Metro suspended its rail service on Saturday, July 14, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, as a computer problem left controllers in the Operations Control Center unable to track trains as they moved through the system.

And then, 12 hours later, it happened again.

Metro suspended its rail service on Sunday, July 15, from 12:30am – 1:00am, as the same computer problem left the panels dark for controllers yet another time.

The problem is still being investigated, and staff from both Metro and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are on the lookout for the ghost of Stephen Stucker, the actor who played "Johnny" in the 1980 movie Airplane!. The character famously unplugged the runway lights just as the airplane was making its approach.

Problems for Metro have only mounted since its latest fare increase was implemented on July 1:

• On July 6, a Green Line train derailed due to a "heat kink" brought on by the recent heat wave. Matters were made worse by Metro staff not communicating with passengers, leading to a "self-evacuation" from the powerless, non-air conditioned train.
  
  
• On July 12, Metro came out with new definitions for what is "acceptable" when calling a train "on-time" – even though the definitions could mean passengers seeing trains only twice per hour.
  
  
• Preceding the July 1 fare increase, Metro celebrated the third anniversary of two trains colliding at the Fort Totten Metro. Eight civilians and one Metro employee were murdered on June 22, 2009.