Train Operator is a Smooth Operator

WASHINGTON -- Metro riders know all too well what train operators sound like when they announce station names. The Charlie Brown, "wah wah wah wah wah" comes to mind. But step on board one special Metro train and you'll not only listen to the smoothest operator in the fleet, chances are you'll leave the train with a smile.

His name is Robert D. Lisle, and he's a combination of Barry White and Eddie Murphy. His voice is silky smooth as he announces station names and he is downright hilarious when he decides to tell a joke in between stops.

This was one of his recent one-liners in between the Pentagon and L'Enfant Plaza Stations on the Yellow Line:

"Valentine's Day -- I was going to put my foot down (with my wife) and be a man. (Pause) Baaaaad move!"

When he dropped that zinger the entire Metro train broke out into laughter.

"There's something you don't see everyday," said one rider.

"He is amusing," said another.

But Lisle wasn't done.

"Anyone seen my foot," he added. Again, laughter from the train.

If nothing else, Lisle says he wants to make the ride a little more bearable.

"Metro is like a box of chocolates," he says, doing his best Forrest Gump impression. "You never know what to expect and sometimes it helps (riders)."

Lisle first started getting noticed for his unusual operator personality while manning the helm on the Red Line years ago. Nowadays, you can catch him on the Yellow Line.

Pulling up to a crowded Pentagon City stop, he broke this one out:

"We've got company, share you seat, c'mon be kind. That's it!"

At the Reagan National Station:

"This is National Airport. Have a good trip, good flight, good day."

Lisle is often thanked by those that ride along with him. A radio producer once even ran from the back of the train to the front, just so he could meet him.

"He told me, I had to see who you were," says Lisle.

But for Lisle, it's just another day on the job.

"I like people. Some tell me it made their day," he says with a grin on his face.

Most of the time he leaves riders with these satin-laced parting words:

"Don't forget your personal belongings. We hope your day is fan-tas-tic!"

(Copyright 2008 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)