Metro to close at 11 Saturday

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Metro will close its rail stations at 11 Saturday instead of the normal 3 a.m. closing time.

Officials said they were concerned about the ability of employees to get to and from work.

"Safety is our top priority as we recover from the storm. We need to make sure that our operations personnel who were able to report to work today get the needed time off between shifts so that when they report to work tomorrow, they can perform their jobs safely," said Metro Acting Deputy General Manager Dave Kubicek.

Officials said road conditions could also affect the ability of the agency to provide service on Sunday and Monday. Metro said Saturday service had been extremely light, with 27,000 trips taken instead of the normal Saturday average of 300,000.

Metro opened at 7 a.m. Saturday and was providing limited rail service to its underground stations only. Metro terminated service to outdoor stations as the snow accumulated Friday. Concerns about the ability of the electrified third rail to power trains led to the decision.