Rail crash startles the nation’s capital

Washington-area Metro failed to communicate well; news media filled in the gaps

A normal, evening rush-hour commute suddenly turned into something horrible and tragic in an instant. It’s not unusual to have delays on the Washington-area Metro system, but a few minutes before 5 p.m. local time on Monday, a massive collision with fatalities shook one to the core.

I heard about the crash from a friend who called from Atlanta. Strange, since my workplace is within earshot from the crash site, between the Takoma and Ft. Totten Metro stations. In fact, if we have all of the windows open at work, the subway noise can sometimes interfere with phone conversations. We heard nothing, not even sirens. I just started this job three weeks ago. I sometimes take the subway to work, but yesterday I drove.