Today, I got on the Orange line train at East Falls Church and headed toward New Carrolton. At the next stop, Ballston, the train was offloaded. I had to wait for the next train. The train was packed. It caused me to be 20 minutes late to work. I ended up staying 20 minutes late at work to make up for it which really caused me to get home late.
On the way from work to the train station, I stopped at CVS to get an antacid and a drink to wash it down. I got to Eastern Market station a little after 5. As I came into the station I saw a Blue Line train sitting there with its doors open. After a few minutes it left and there were announcements that someone had been struck at Clarendon and that there would be delays. I texted Jana and told her I wouldn't be home for a while. She offered to pick me up, but I was woried about her coming into DC as I had read that the occupy DC protesters were blocking streets. I told her that maybe she could pick me up in Rosslyn (first stop in Virginia). The Orange line train finally approached. We slowly made our way through stations and I began to monitor Twitter. I kept reading stories from Rosslyn that the escalators had broken and that it was packed. People then were saying that the trains were stopping at Rosslyn and a shuttle bus was required to get to Ballston. By this time I was pulling away from Foggy Bottom (the last stop in DC) so I had not other options than to go to Rosslyn. I texted Jana to see if she could pick me up. There was no communication from the train operator until we were almost to Rosslyn, which left anyone not monitoring Twitter little time to make alternate plans.
On the way from work to the train station, I stopped at CVS to get an antacid and a drink to wash it down. I got to Eastern Market station a little after 5. As I came into the station I saw a Blue Line train sitting there with its doors open. After a few minutes it left and there were announcements that someone had been struck at Clarendon and that there would be delays. I texted Jana and told her I wouldn't be home for a while. She offered to pick me up, but I was woried about her coming into DC as I had read that the occupy DC protesters were blocking streets. I told her that maybe she could pick me up in Rosslyn (first stop in Virginia). The Orange line train finally approached. We slowly made our way through stations and I began to monitor Twitter. I kept reading stories from Rosslyn that the escalators had broken and that it was packed. People then were saying that the trains were stopping at Rosslyn and a shuttle bus was required to get to Ballston. By this time I was pulling away from Foggy Bottom (the last stop in DC) so I had not other options than to go to Rosslyn. I texted Jana to see if she could pick me up. There was no communication from the train operator until we were almost to Rosslyn, which left anyone not monitoring Twitter little time to make alternate plans.
It was an unbelievable seen when I got off the train. There were people everywhere and we were barely moving. The people were jammed up against the end of the platform where the trains were still coming and dropping people off.
When I finally got to the escalators they were all shut off. The escalators at Rosslyn are some of the steepest and longest I have been on. I wasn't worried about making it to the top, but I was worried about the people who weren't healthy or older not being able to make it up. Walking up those escalators appeared to be their only option.
The first time I saw a Metro employee was when I finally reached the top of the escalators. He was barking at people to keep moving. Thanks guy. My long trek home was not even close to over at this point. I along with hundreds others poured out of the station to the side street where the shuttle buses were supposed to be. Luckily Jana was picking me up because I didn't see any. There were so many people there that the people were standing out in the street. Jana had told me that she couldn't get anywhere close to the station so I started walking up the hill out of Rosslyn. As I was walking I saw firetrucks and ambulances go by. My first thought was that someone had had a heart attack or panic attack in the station or someone had been trampled. I finally met up with Jana and we were on our way. The traffic was terrible and barely moved on Wilson. It was again due to the person who had attempted suicide because the firetrucks and ambulances at that station were blocking one of the two lanes on Wilson Street a few miles in front of us. I left my house at 5:58 AM and arrived at home at 7:30 PM. What a miserable horrible experience.
The thing that worries me the most is that Metro seems unprepared by a crisis situation. What if this was a bomb at Clarendon?
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