WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Metro was bracing for crushing crowds on Monday — the night of the Washington Nationals’ first weekday night game — but riders said their commute was pretty painless.

“I work near here, and it’s a lot more crowded today,” said Bryce Onaran, waiting in his Nationals hat at L’Enfant Plaza for a Green Line train to the Navy Yard station. “I mean it’s not terrible, but there aren’t usually this many people here.”

Transit police and yellow-vested station managers dotted the platforms at Gallery Place-Chinatown and L’Enfant Plaza — the two major transfer stations to the Green Line — shepherding riders between trains with calls of “baseball this way!” and “use the escalator to your right for the Nationals game.”

Traffic picked up at both stations close to 6 p.m., but while Green Line trains were packed, few people were left waiting on the platforms.

“Oh, the Green Line’s been pretty full,” station manager Denise Foreman said, in between joking with riders on the platform and answering questions. “But the flow has been pretty good.”

More than 20,000 Nationals fans were expected to cram onto rush-hour trains to get to the 41,000-seat stadium in time for the 7:10 p.m. game against the Florida Marlins.

Metro added a new, six-car train to the Green Line last month to help prepare for the crunch, but the agency has been unable to add rail cars to the other lines during rush hour because it already deploys all of its available trains, officials have said.

The transit agency placed extra station managers, rail supervisors and transit police at the Gallery Place-Chinatown and L’Enfant Plaza transfer stations, and at the Navy Yard Green Line station that services the ballpark.

After the game, Metro was scheduled to add 10 extra trains to the Green Line, four extra trains to the Red Line, and five to the Orange and Blue lines to get fans home.

tluntz@dcexaminer.com

Comments from Examiner Readers

2:18 AM MST on Tue., Mar. 18, 2008 re: "No easy access near ballpark for disabled"

Examiner Reader said:
Now how did "progressive, caring" DC happen to forget about the Americans with Disabilities Act which requires that public facility projects consider access for the disabled?

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11:32 AM MST on Sat., Mar. 15, 2008 re: "Shuttle service, beer sales among issues still to work out before Opening Day"

Examiner Reader said:
"The most extreme example might be June 29, when United faces off against David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy as 12:30 p.m., and the Nationals play the Baltimore Orioles an hour later." well that was some brilliant scheduling there....lets stuff 100,000 people into the area over a two hour span

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11:34 AM MST on Mon., Mar. 10, 2008 re: "Police: Nearly $2M owed for security at Nats games"

Examiner Reader said:
Considering where the new stadium is, you can bet that the cost of security will skyrocket!!!

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8:58 AM MST on Mon., Mar. 10, 2008 re: "Police: Nearly $2M owed for security at Nats games"

Examiner Reader said:
If DC knew that they couldn't afford to pay the police department they shouldn't have never opened up the Stadium. You have so many poor people living in the DC area and all the taxes we citizens have to pay could have been going into better use. we have to pay all this money and we are not going to see where the money is going. Who cares, right.

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7:47 AM MST on Mon., Mar. 10, 2008 re: "Police: Nearly $2M owed for security at Nats games"

Mike Licht said:
Re:$2M owed for security at Nats games -- Since the "quasi-governmental" D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission won't pay the $2 million it owes the Metropolitan Police Department for security at Nats games, why not get those "quasi" Commission members and paid staff out directing traffic on game days? At $55 an hour, it should only take them 36,364 person-hours to work off their debt.

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7:06 AM MST on Mon., Mar. 10, 2008 re: "Police: Nearly $2M owed for security at Nats games"

Examiner Reader said:
"Whether the [commission] is paying it or MPD is paying it, it comes out of the same pot,� Mayor Adrian Fenty�s spokeswoman Carrie Brooks said in a statement. WHAT? Good grief, no wonder the city is in so much trouble. Everyone is aware the budget process means nothing in D.C., and that is why money is misspent and missing everywhere, but to come out an officially admit it, wow - good work Brooks.

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6:23 AM MST on Mon., Mar. 10, 2008 re: "Police: Nearly $2M owed for security at Nats games"

Examiner Reader said:
The city charges baseball $55.00 per hour, the officers are paid their regular hourly rate. For most officers that about $32.00 per hour. What is the city doing with the difference?

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9:01 PM MST on Mon., May. 28, 2007 re: "Nationals� stadium art project at a standstill"

Mike Licht said:
miqcie: Art is good. The DC government should make sure that it is part of the environment throughout our city, and encourage the community cultural groups and gifted DC artists who create it. The stadium is private property, owned by the Lerner family, who can well afford to buy their own art.

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4:10 PM MST on Mon., May. 28, 2007 re: "Nationals� stadium art project at a standstill"

miqcie said:
I'm hopeful that this funding will be restored and is appropriate use of financing for public art. As a denizen of this city, I'd don't mind a part of my tax dollars going to projects like this that are truly community goods.

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12:17 PM MST on Mon., May. 28, 2007 re: "Nationals� stadium art project at a standstill"

Mike Licht said:
The Commission claimed the site-specific art for the private baseball stadium was just being "loaned" to the stadium but still owned by the commission. That is like saying your dental work is on loan from someone else. Public art projects like this are normally paid for by the developer, and the public arts agency gives technical assistance in the project's execution. This poor judgment by the Commission has cost the DC arts community $850,000 in much-needed capital funds.

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5:46 AM MST on Tue., May. 22, 2007 re: "Deal should clear the way for stadium art"

Mike Licht said:
Update: The deal is now for a $206,000+ site-specific sculpture to be "loaned" to the stadium by the DC Arts Commission. That is like saying that you "borrow" your dental work, an obvious falsehood. Shame.

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