The light rail tram that Metro frequently describes as its transit backbone shut down because of the rain yesterday:
Flooding shut down MetroRail service early Tuesday between the Texas Medical Center and downtown, delaying commutes for thousands of workers.
Heavy rain overnight left 9 inches of water atop the tracks on Fannin where it passes under Holcombe, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Maggi Stewart, Metro spokeswoman, said it was apparent by 4:20 a.m., shortly before rail service was scheduled to begin, that trains would not be able to travel past the Texas Medical Center Transit Center.
“People were able to get to the transit center, but then the trains couldn’t go in the underpass,” Stewart said. “When it’s more than 4 inches, it’s difficult to maintain service.”
Four inches of rain rarely disrupts bus service. Nine inches presumably makes things dicey for buses, but they do ride pretty high.
Metro also is still having trouble getting the word out when service is disrupted:
In response to confusion during other incidents this year, the transit authority began distributing a brochure onboard trains last week explaining to riders what to do if light rail service is disrupted. That information is not available at stations, however.
Metro needs to serve its constituents better than this.
