By Faiz Siddiqui June 28 at 6:22 PM
Smoke and fire extinguisher discharge emanate from the tracks at Gallery Place on Monday night. (Photo: David Mariutto).
A rail component that began smoldering on tracks at the Gallery Place Metro station on Monday, then possibly rekindled later in the evening, has been sent to a laboratory for testing, Metro said Tuesday, in what the transit agency called an unusual move aimed at pinpointing the source of the problem.The incident, which began about 6 p.m. Monday, snarled the evening commute for thousands of riders — first with the evacuation of the station when it began filling with smoke, then with a partial shutdown of the Green and Yellow Lines for emergency track work. In the time between the evacuation and rail shutdown, Green and Yellow line service was briefly restored in the area of the incident, prompting questions as to whether it was safe to do so.
Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said Tuesday that when personnel running test trains through the area spotted smoldering for a second time, the track was shut down so the component — a rail fastener — could be removed and tested. Rail fasteners are a plate-like devices, equipped with bolts and clips, that secure the running rail. (…)
