Officials in Washington are studying what events prompted a power outage that stranded traveler on the District's subway system.
The Washington Post reports that officials from Washington's Metro are investigating a power outage that struck late Thursday night. The power supply disruption lasted until early Friday morning, and transit officials have drawn the ire of frustrated passengers who claim there was no communication during the electric grid disturbance.
Metro officials later acknowledged that the power outage occurred before midnight on Thursday, but they said in a statement that the power supply disruption also impacted the transit agency's communication systems and website. As a result, they struggled to develop a way to communicate with passengers.
As a safety precaution, the transit agency ultimately decided to hold trains on the Red, Orange and Blue lines in stations from about 11:55 p.m. to 12:10 a.m., according to the Post. However, many Metro riders reported waiting far longer for service to return, even after crews had apparently restored power.
The power outage significantly impacted officials' ability to oversee the Metro. The power supply disruption impacted the transit organization's computer systems and radio consoles at bus and train control centers, authorities said. What's more, they had difficulty contacting representatives from utilities to report the power supply disruption.
The Metro released a statement early Friday morning that informed riders about the power outage had prompted service delays. However, by 12:30 a.m., the Metro said that normal service had resumed on subway lines, an assertion that passengers said was not true. Scores of disgruntled Metro customers contended they suffered through "significant delays" through the early morning hours on Friday.
Still, officials worked to allay anxious passengers on Friday. They issued a statement affirming that power had been fully restored throughout the transit organization's network, and that delays were not expected during the busy morning commute time.
The Metro is continuing to investigate the causes of the power supply disruption, but crews have thus far failed to discover a specific factor that could have triggered the system-wide power outage, according to the news provider.