Metro is planning to shut down the Blue Line — which serves Arlington National Cemetery — this Veterans Day, in an attempt to get riders to use the Yellow Line to get to the Concert for Valor. Metro says it will replace all Blue Line service with Yellow Line trains between Franconia-Springfield and Greenbelt.
Metro plans to shut down the Blue Line on Veterans Day to help shuttle the hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend the Concert for Valor.
Transportation leaders have been scrambling to put together a game plan to move to and from the National Mall for the Nov. 11 concert featuring Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Underwood, Metallica, Eminem, Zach Brown Band and Rihanna.
Metro says it will replace all Blue Line service with Yellow Line trains between Franconia-Springfield and Greenbelt. A special shuttle train will operate between National Airport and Arlington Cemetery, News4's transportation reporter Adam Tuss reports.
HBO says it is putting up extra cash to make sure there is adequate transportation in place. The show is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and run until 10 p.m.
"The production is paying for extra Metro trains, buses and commuter rail services under the guidance of Metro DC Transit, using past events, such as the July 4 concert, as a guide," wrote HBO Vice President of Media Relations Tobe Becker.
Why does Metro have to make these adjustments? Between 400k and 800k people expected to show up for concert. 2-4 times larger that July 4 — Adam Tuss (@AdamTuss) October 20, 2014
But the typical crowd on Metro for the Fourth of July is about 500,000 riders throughout the course of the day. If even 200,000 or 300,000 people show up for the Concert for Valor, it could take a very long time to clear the Mall.
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"It takes us about two hours to clear the crowd from the Fourth of July," said Metro General Manager Richard Sarles told News4. "If this is one-and-a-half to two times that size, the time to clear it would be maybe three or four hours. So that's a lot that we have to take into consideration."
There is good news if the thought of the concert and crowd is too much for you: The event will be televised on HBO that night.
