WASHINGTON — With Metro’s massive maintenance project officially underway, the rail system has limited its hours on weekends, and that is already having an impact on local businesses.
“It was drop-off dead right around midnight,” said Daniel Chestnutt, general manager of James Hoban’s Irish Restaurant and Bar in Dupont Circle.
During Saturday night, normally a busy time for bars and restaurants, there was a noticeable decrease in business.
Typically the rail system would stay open until 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday, but during the SafeTrack maintenance project, Metro’s closing time is now midnight every day of the week.
When Metro closed Saturday, only a handful of people were at the bar at James Hoban’s. But it wasn’t only drink orders that suffered. It was food orders, as well, Chestnutt said.
“We may have one or two orders after 12 now, instead of ten to twenty orders,” he said. “That’s sort of happening with a lot of other places in the area, too.”
Nearby, the Front Page Restaurant and Grill also saw a steep drop in customers late Saturday.
“We basically didn’t have any business going on after 11,” said Manager David Garrido. “We noticed a big change.”
Metro officials have said that closing the system earlier gives maintenance crews more time to work uninterrupted.
“By closing the system at midnight every night and expanding weekday maintenance opportunities, the SafeTrack plan addresses FTA and NTSB safety recommendations, accelerates work to eliminate maintenance backlogs and restores Metro infrastructure to good health,” according to a statement from Metro.
