Rider asks about bad morning on Red Line

Bad scene Tuesday morning on the Red Line, says this rider.

Dear Dr. Gridlock:
Getting to Metro Center this morning, I notice a large crowd waiting on the Red Line, something that usually means a problem. However, there are no announcements.

The first approaching train skips Metro Center (four deep with patrons by the way) and is empty, but it is only when we get on the next one that the operator says they are "behind schedule." She then indicates the train will skip Van Ness to make up for time and shortly thereafter adds Bethesda to the list of skipped stations so that Metro can catch up. About a third of the passengers have to offload at Bethesda and get on the next train.
Peter Levine
The District

We've had quite a few difficult days in this young year. Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel described the morning's events this way:

At 6:58 a.m., a six-car Red Line train traveling to Grosvenor-Strathmore developed a mechanical problem at Union Station. The train had to be removed from service. This resulted in a nine-minute delay to customers traveling in the direction of Shady Grove.

The first approaching train that skipped Metro Center was the out-of-service train that Mr. Levine is talking about. The next train in service was a six-car train to Shady Grove.

Because that train was now so far behind schedule, the operations control center advised the train operator to tell passengers the train would be expressed past Van Ness (at 7:27 a.m.) and Bethesda (at 7:33 a.m.)

Because there was such a large gap in the Red Line service, an extra train was added to the run at Cleveland Park at 7:12 a.m. in the direction of Shady Grove.