Red Line trains single-tracking

Metrorail trains are sharing a single track on a portion of the Red Line this evening after a burning insulator prompted power to be shut off on the northbound track at the Bethesda station, a Metro spokesman said.

The burning insulator, attached to the electrified third rail, was detected just north of the station about 5:28 p.m. and extinguished by a train operator, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. Power to the third rail on the track to Shady Grove was shut off, but when it was restored about 5:50 p.m. the problem resumed.

Power was again shut off, and the northbound track was closed between Friendship Heights and Medical Center. Trains traveling in both directions shared the southbound track on that stretch, Taubenkibel said. No injuries were reported.

--Martin Weil