Updated 11:05 a.m. – One of the two active escalators at the Bethesda Metro station temporarily stopped working Wednesday morning.
Metro had trains bypassing the station after the ascending escalator stopped working around 8:50 a.m. Metro used shuttles to transport passengers to and from the Medical Center station.
Metro spokeswoman Morgan Dye said technicians responded to the station to fix the escalator. Dye said there was a problem with the escalator's handrail tha required repair.The technicians fixed the problem and finished testing the handrail around 10:20 a.m. and then Metro announced via its Twitter account that the station reopened.
The Bethesda station has three escalators, but one is closed long-term for a replacement project. So when one of the other two stop working, Metro often has to temporarily close the station to repair the escalator. The station was closed for nearly six hours on April 7 after a power surge caused one of the escalators to stop working.
Over the next two years, all three escalators will be replaced, which Metro says will hopefully prevent outages from happening.
@dcmetrosucks Stranded yet again in Bethesda metro station due to a broken escalator. #wmata #redline #HELP pic.twitter.com/SKr7D3p4JZ
— rlecloux (@rlecloux) July 8, 2015
Medical center doesn't look so hot waiting for shuttle @unsuckdcmetro #wmata pic.twitter.com/tAcfTtQPnP
— Linda Epstein (@fotolinda) July 8, 2015
