DC Metro Shuts Down For 29 Hours; Crews Repair 600 'Jumper Cables'

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--A rough commute for anyone heading into D.C. on Wednesday.

Starting at midnight, the entire Metro system will shut down for 29 hours.

The emergency closure is expected to have a crippling impact on thousands of Maryland commuters!

Ava-Joye Burnett has more.

The shutdown comes after a tunnel fire at the McPherson Square Metro stop on Monday.

Jack Evans, chairman of board of Metro says the shutdown will impact the entire region.

"Without Metro, it's going to have a lot of congestion, but safety is paramount and we need to get to the bottom of this," he said.

Getting to the bottom of this means about 600 jumper cables in the entire Metro system will have to be inspected.

Metro wants to avoid another tragedy like what happened at the L'Enfant Plaza station last year when smoke filled the station killing 61-year-old Carol Glover.

More than 700,000 people ride Metro trains everyday. Come Wednesday morning, those commuters will have to find an alternate way to get around.

"It's not looking well at all. I might have to do an Uber, but where I live at, it's going to cost a lot," said Jasmine Howard.

"They are already packed on week day rush hours anyways, so with Metro rail shutting down, even if they add more buses to the lines, it's still going to be a mess," said Kenneth Conaway.

Federal government workers will have the option to work from home and for students being absent or late it will not count against them.

For metro, the second busiest system in the U.S., it's a tough decision they didn't want to chance on.

"But we in good conscious cannot send trains out in to the system in to these tunnels knowing full well that something can go wrong," said Evans.

No doubt it's going to be a traffic night mare as people try to find another way around.

Metro busses will still be running and parking at Metro lots will be free if you're lucky enough to get a spot.

All six metro lines and all 91 stations will close tomorrow.

Metro officials did not rule out the possibility these closures could last for longer than 29 hours.