Every Metro rider has heard that warning, "Careful, door opening." The problem is some Metrorail cars have problems that can cause a door to open without warning. So Metro is taking precautionary action.
One hundred Metro cars were taken out of service so crews can inspect and repair a potentially dangerous problem.
Metro said some of the doors could open while trains are moving, endangering passengers.
So all 100 of its 4000 series cars have been taken off-line for inspection, testing and repairs before they are returned.
That reduces Metro's fleet to about 1,000 cars. During morning and evening peak hours Metro uses about 850 cars.
"There probably will be some impact because at this point we have pulled off all of those cars," said Metro Board chairman Peter Benjamin. "We are working on them and hope to have them back on track by the end of the week."
Passengers are concerned about overcrowding and delays, but they appreciate that Metro is being proactive about safety.
"It's a pretty good thing that they are repairing them," rider Sarah Castillo said.
Metro rider Charles Brants said he often sees passengers leaning up against doors.
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Metro said it was able to clear the July 4th holiday crowd of about 250,000 people from the Mall in about two hours, and it's confident it can handle weekday rush hour demand despite being down 100 cars.
