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1000s Sign Petition Asking Pope to Bless DC Metro ‘So It Actually Works'

© Flickr / Chris MartinoWashington, DC Metro
Washington, DC Metro - Sputnik International
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Washington, DC resident Noah Rosenheck has been frustrated lately by the city’s subway system. So frustrated, in fact, he launched a petition to urge Pope Francis to bless the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, in the hopes that a papal nod might inspire the US capital’s public transportation system to, you know, function.

Rosenheck is not alone: as of Wednesday afternoon, around 2500 of his District neighbors have signed the Change.org petition.

Service outages have become more frequent — and frustrating to DC residents — in the past few years. Over 200 fires have plagued the subway since 2013. On Tuesday, 250 Metro riders were trapped in a tunnel for over an hour between the Columbia Heights and Georgia-Petworth stations after the 3rd rail lost electrical power. Riders had to be rescued by emergency personnel.

A sample of the tweetscape back through this spring reveals DC rail fires — and the train delays they wreak — have been, well, a thing. Metro has become, for many District residents so chronically late for work, a tired reminder of the decay of urban transportation architecture, searing its misery with snark throughout the city.

May 11th:

May 19th:

May 28th

June 13th

Aug 6th

In anticipation of Pope Francis’ visit this week, the frequency of the snarkrage seemed, in fact, to ramp up. 

Sept 2nd

Sept 3rd

Sept 8th

Sept 18th

Sept 21st

There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of relief in sight, if the current frequency of train delays is any indication. But if the pontiff’s blessing can repair aging electrical engineering, District Metro riders will take a miracle if they can get it.

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