An empty Metro train plowed into another Metro train filled with people at the Woodley Park station Wednesday afternoon, injuring 20 people and nearly crippling the Red Line.
A Metro spokesperson said the accident occurred at 12:49 p.m., and that three people were immediately transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. A later statement from Metro said 20 people were reported to have minor injuries.
The cause of the accident is still unknown, but according to a Metro press release, the empty car, which was off service, "drifted backward" into the full six-car train. The last car of the empty train went on top of the other train.
The Woodley Park station was closed after the accident and will open this morning.
Metro charged off-peak fare Wednesday to compensate for the delays, which some AU students said were up to two hours.
"I had to go to work, and I just couldn't get downtown," said freshman Melanie Briem, who tutors at the Children's Studio School in Northeast D.C.
Briem said a Metro worker told her to take a Metro bus to Georgetown and then transfer to another bus going downtown. She waited two hours for a bus to Georgetown before giving up and going back to AU.
In Dupont, so many people were exiting the station that the escalator stopped working, according to Aaron Fettgather, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs. After Fettgather got on the Metro yesterday, he said he was advised that his train would stop at the Dupont Circle station and all passengers would be escorted to a shuttle bus.
"It was like the Titanic sinking. It was absolute madness," Fettgather said.
He ended up walking a few blocks away from Dupont Circle and taking a $21 cab ride back to AU with a few classmates instead of waiting for a shuttle bus.
"We didn't care how much it cost," Fettgather said. "We were delayed, we were tired, we were dirty, and we just wanted to leave."
Freshmen Sarah Mielke, in the Kogod School of Business, and Vanessa Stevens, in the School of International Service, got caught in the delays yesterday afternoon on their way to Foggy Bottom to see a taping of CNN's "Crossfire." They took a packed shuttle from Cleveland Park to Dupont Circle. Metro workers didn't explain to them why the station was closed, but they were told "not to take bridges," which concerned them.
"We didn't know if it was an accident or terrorists - we were alarmed," Stevens said.
Some students didn't even notice the delays, mainly elated fans of President Bush.
"We were coming home from the Bush rally, so we were excited and didn't care," said Ashley Wall, a freshman in SPA. "The rest of the campus is sulking, so I could see them being upset about it."
Mark Seaman, a junior in SPA, said the trip from Union Station to Tenleytown, which usually takes 30 minutes, took 75 minutes.
"I take the Metro to work every day, and it seems like the Red Line has problems all the time, and now the carelessness of the Metro employees has made the problem even worse," Seaman said. "Delays you can complain about, but when your safety is being compromised, something needs to be done."
Red Line trains will use a single track until at least late Thursday morning and will limit their southward stops at the Cleveland Park or Dupont Circle stations. Metro is providing shuttle buses at Farragut North, Dupont Circle, Woodley Park and Cleveland Park Metrorail stations to help commuters get around the closed station.
