WASHINGTON聽鈥斅燤etro’s Red Line trains had to聽single-track between Medical Center聽and Friendship Heights for about a half-hour聽at the height of Wednesday’s morning rush due to an arcing insulator.
Metro began聽single-tracking just before 8:30 a.m.
D.C. Fire and EMS supervisors on the scene said the problem was limited to smoke from the insulator that runs along the third rail.
The incident caused delays for passengers, although both stations remained open.
No injuries were reported.
Regular two-track service resumed just before 9 a.m.
A few days earlier, on Saturday, a occurred聽nearby, in the stretch of track between Friendship Heights and Tenleytown.
At least nine people were evacuated from a train at Tenleytown after smoke filled the tunnel. No injuries were reported.
In January 2015, a woman died aboard a smoke-filled train after a similar situation caused heavy smoke at the L’Enfant Plaza station.
Last year, Metro said approximately two arcing incidents per month 聽on Metro are blamed on failed insulators.
