Federal Offices, Metrorail System in Washington Closed Monday
In anticipation of Hurricane Sandy, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management announced Sunday evening that federal offices in the Washington area will be closed to the public on Monday.
Below is the text of the announcement:
Non-emergency employees (including employees on pre-approved paid leave) will be granted excused absence (administrative leave) for the number of hours they were scheduled to work unless they are:
- required to telework,
- on official travel outside of the Washington, DC, area,
- on leave without pay,
- or on an alternative work schedule (AWS) day off.
Telework-Ready Employees who are scheduled to perform telework on the day of the announcement or who are required to perform unscheduled telework on a day when Federal offices are closed to the public must telework the entire workday or request leave, or a combination of both, in accordance with their agencies' policies and procedures, subject to any applicable collective bargaining requirements.
Emergency Employees are expected to report to their worksites unless otherwise directed by their agencies.
Metro followed suit, cancelling all service on Monday. The full announcement text is below:
In light of updated forecast information from the National Weather Service projecting higher wind speeds, as well as the closure of Federal Government offices in the Washington area and the possibility of widespread commercial power outages, Metro has announced the following service changes for Monday, October 29, 2012:
- The Metrorail system will be closed on Monday. Rail service on Sunday night will continue operate as scheduled until its normal closing time (midnight). No decision has yet been made on when Metrorail service will be restored after Monday.
- All Metrobus service will be suspended as of the end of the service day on Sunday and remain suspended until further notice.
- All MetroAccess service has been cancelled on Monday.
Metro service will only be restored when it is safe to do so. Following the storm, Metro personnel will need to perform a comprehensive damage assessment, including inspections of track, bridges, aerial structures, stations and facilities. Service restoration also will be contingent on adequate commercial power to support operations and repair of any storm-related damage.
Customers are encouraged to sign up for MetroAlerts for information regarding restoration of service as information is known.
In addition, previously scheduled Public Hearings on Monday and Tuesday have been cancelled.
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