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D.C. Metro GM Announces Hours Reductions, Long Term Track Closures In Aggressive Repair Plan

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Thousands of Marylanders are going to find painful commutes in and out of Washington DC.

Alex DeMetrick reports major repairs to DC's metro rail service is going to mean major inconvenience.

In January 2015, smoke filled a Metro train stopped in a tunnel.

"Seeing other people vomiting on the floor, coughing, black stuff all over their faces, it was too scary," said a passenger.

It took the life of one woman.

Month after month, there have been more emergencies and breakdowns.

On Thursday, an electric fireball erupted after a train passed by.

"We cannot continue as we are," said Metro Board President Jack Evans.

Not when so much damaged equipment puts so many riders at risk. So Metro's management announced major repairs will be made. Called "Safe Track Surges," they will take one year, starting June 4, and consist of five separate stations/lines closing for 10-23 days each, eventually impacting a total of 804,000 riders.

"Clearly the level of service will go down during these surge periods," said Metro general manager Paul Wiedfeld.

Other lines, many connecting Maryland to DC, will see periods of single track services---meaning slower rides from places like Greebelt---all to give crews and heavy equipment room and time to make extensive repairs and upgrades.

For Maryland commuters and indeed all Metro riders, the repairs boil down to this:

"This is going to be inconvenient. It's going to be more inconvenient than it is now," Evans said.

Likely putting more Maryland Metro riders back into cars and gridlock.

Maryland's share for the Metro system is $450 million. That may go up as the cost for repairs add up.

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