A very discouraging Metro ride (revisited)

Following up my previous post on recent Metro service, I e-mailed Metro outlining my grievance, and so far I have only received the standard reply, as below.

Thank you for taking the time to complete Metro's online Customer Comment Form. Metro appreciates hearing from customers, because it helps us continue to improve our services. We will review the information you provided and route it for appropriate action.

Today I posted the same story on the Post's Dr. Gridlock chat.

Arlington, Va.: In 7 years of riding Metro, I had my first really unpleasant Metro experience last week (yes, I know it's hard to believe I went this long with a good Metro experience, but I did!).

The bad experience I point to was TWICE having to wait up to 40 minutes for a Yellow Line train, neither time with any communication from Metro officials about why everyone on the platform was being made to wait.

The first 40-minute wait was after a Nationals game last Wednesday--40 minutes wherein two Green Line trains serviced L'Enfant Plaza, as well as one out-of-service train, but a Yellow train conspicuously absent. And I have never EVER had to wait more than 15-20 minutes for a train, even during off-peak hours.

The second wait was this past Saturday (though in all fairness, it was a half hour before ANY train went through Pentagon City, be it Yellow or Blue).

What bothers me is the COMBINATION of long train delays with the lack of communication from Metro officials. If there is going to be a delay on the Metro, for any reason, it would be greatly helpful to the customers on the platform to know why they're being made to wait. For me, at least, knowing why makes it a little more bearable.

Dr. Gridlock: That shouldn't have happened to you. I can't imagine any excuse for it. I'm wondering what the station's electronic message boards said during those times.

The electronic message board, after the Nats game, didn't display any Yellow Line information whatsoever. On Saturday, it just displayed the upcoming Yellow and Blue trains, but didn't post any wait time at all (which I usually interpret as Metro not knowing how long it'll be before the next train).

At this point, I'm not really anticipating any further responses from Metro, but I'm just crossing my fingers that service will improve again in the future.