Riders Briefly Locked Inside Vienna Metro Station After Commanders Game; WMATA Puts It at Under 10 Minutes
Dozens of riders coming home from Sunday night's Commanders win found the exits at Vienna station locked early Monday; WMATA says a station manager had locked the outside gate for a final check and that customers were unable to exit for less than 10 minutes.
The last leg of the trip home from Sunday night's Commanders game turned into a lock-in for dozens of Metro riders. The Banner reported Monday that riders arriving at the Vienna station in Fairfax County early Monday morning found the exits locked, with a social-media video showing a chain on a doorway and a crowd of passengers stuck inside the station.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, in a statement to The Banner on Monday morning, said the riders were stuck for about 10 minutes because a station manager locked the outside gate in an effort to prevent customers from entering during a final station check for the night. The agency said the last Orange Line train entered the station at 1:39 a.m.
"According to video footage, the last customers from that train were exiting the mezzanine area around 1:43 a.m., at which time the station manager followed those customers to allow them to exit via the outside gate," the WMATA statement said. "The total time the customers were unable to exit was less than 10 minutes."
The riders were coming off a long night: Washington's 27-10 win over Philadelphia at Northwest Stadium ended at about 11:30 p.m., and the rider whose video drew attention said his trip to Vienna, which usually takes an hour, took twice as long. Vienna, the Orange Line's western terminus in Fairfax County, is one of the main park-and-ride stations for fans and commuters traveling in from Northern Virginia.
