Pulled Metro buses returning to service

Metro will return all of its Orion VI diesel buses to service Monday after making temporary repairs, the transit agency said Sunday evening.

On Thursday Metro took 99 of the buses out of service to repair a hydraulic pump. Metro said the pump may have contributed to a fire that damaged a bus on the Capital Beltway near Springfield that day.

Metro said it made a temporary fix, which prevents potential problems. However, the transit agency said, that required disabling the automatic control of the buses’ wheelchair ramps. Bus drivers will control the ramps manually if they are needed, Metro said.

The agency said the Orion VI buses will be sent on routes with low wheelchair ramp demand.

-- Martin Weil