You Line, I Line, We All Scream For Uline: Years ago, the Uline Arena was the place the Beatles chose for their first U.S. concert; these days, it's an empty husk of a building that's barely visible except from passing Metro trains. It might soon be a music museum, though. Architects at HKS are convening a summit to come up with design ideas; if they find one that's economically viable, the arena might one day come off the roster of vacant properties held by Douglas Development Corp. No word on whether Paul McCartney could be lured to play a set. +2

Wrath of Khan: Local boxer Lamont Peterson will have to beat Brit Amir Khan a second time if he wants to keep his belts. So says the World Boxing Association, which ordered a rematch of last year's fight at the Convention Center because of "multiple irregularities" in the refereeing and scoring of the bout. No reason to worry, though; as long as the rematch is held in D.C., Peterson should be fine. Uh, because of the strong crowd support, of course. -1

Track Marks: Going somewhere this holiday weekend? Don't be in a hurry. Metro has repair work planned for the Red, Orange, and Blue lines; virtually everyone who took the Red Line anywhere this week already knows how inconvenient single-tracking there can be. There won't be any trains between L'Enfant Plaza and Eastern Market, which means any tourists hoping to check out the Capitol will be hoofing it. (Or taking Uber?) -2

Tie One On: Business casual is the order of the day for the men at most D.C. law firms (even if suits and/or blue blazers are still de rigeur on the Hill). Which may be why an attorney based at WilmerHale, David Powers, has teamed up with a buddy to start a business that rents neckties: Why buy 'em if you almost never have to wear one? For $29.99 a month, you get the use of five fancy ties. If this isn't a sign the economy isn't actually improving, we're not sure what is. +1

Yesterday's Needle rating: 39 Today's score: 0 Friday bonus: +2 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend bonus: +2 Today's Needle rating: 43

Orange Line, January 2nd.  © 2012 Matt Dunn

On Saturday, March 27, 1976, the subway opened to much fanfare, offering free rides to the more than 50,000 people who showed up to see what was considered at the time to be a transit system of the future. (Today's riders might be unaccustomed to all the Metro goodwill back then.)

It wasn't until March 29, a Monday, that the system started charging. According to Metro, nearly 20,000 people took a ride that day. Fares were collected through exact change; fare cards were introduced in 1977, and SmarTrip in 1999.

Because that first Red Line segment connected just five stations (the Gallery Place-Chinatown station didn't open for service until Dec. 15 that year, and New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet University station opened as an in-fill station in 2004), service only ran on weekdays, starting at 6 a.m. and concluding at 8 p.m. (This post originally said the line connected six stations.) When the Red Line opened, subway construction was already underway on other parts of the system that would eventually grow into the nation's second-busiest. The first segment of the Orange and Blue lines opened the next year, connecting the National Airport and Stadium-Armory stations via downtown Washington.

The rail system now encompasses more than 106 miles of track and 86 stations in the District, Maryland, and Virginia.

Some Metro mayhem demonstrates how out of control a simple train ride can get.

City Desk has obtained video that sheds light on what happened after, on Dec. 23, some Metrorail customers found themselves sitting ducks as muggers terrorized them on an Orange Line train. The chaos took place between the Stadium-Armory and Minnesota Avenue stops. The footage shows the muggers escaping from a Minnesota Avenue exit. It also shows two of them socking a passerby for no apparent reason as they leave. The shocked patron shoves his hand inside of his bag as though he has a weapon and follows his assailants for a moment.

The robbery spurred contradictory accounts of what happened after it was reported on in January. The story of the mugging, as told by an anonymous poster on the blog Unsuck D.C. Metro,  didn't line up with a statement about the event released by Metro. The victim's account said six masked men stormed the car, wielding guns, and ordered some passengers to the floor, and that the marauders beat their victims before taking off with their valuables.

But in an official statement, the transit authority offered a more subdued version of the story. Yes, a couple of passengers had been mugged, but there were only two assailants, and they weren't armed—and the victims weren't seriously hurt.The two thieves were arrested, said Metro. Since both were juveniles, their names haven't been released.

Adding to the confusion, a Metropolitan Police Department report citing the only robbery in the area at that time told of victims held at gunpoint by a group of four. MPD never confirmed that they were referring to the same robbery, but the similarities were striking.

The Metro footage obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request shows that at least three males bounded off the train after the robbery. Though there could be a fourth, it seems obvious that six is too many and two is too few. The idea of the robbers being unarmed, as Metro contended, seems erroneous. While fleeing from the train, one robber (wearing a mask) falls, then seems to drop something. He falls to the floor again before picking the object up. That's not conclusive proof that there was a weapon involved. But moments later, as the suspects are running out of the the station, the same robber seems to threaten a Metro customer with a gun, reaching into his waistband and backing the customer down.

But play the footage and judge for yourself.

According to the witness' story, which was posted on the blog Unsuck DC Metro, if you happened to be riding Metro home the evening of the 23rd, you might as well have been a prospector traveling by railroad in the late 1800s. Six masked marauders burst onto the Orange Line train at Stadium Armory station "between 6 and 6:30 p.m."  At gunpoint, the raiders ordered some of the male passengers of the crowded car to the floor, kicked them for awhile, and stole their valuables. The masked men then " jumped off at the next station and ran."

When reporters, including Washington City Paper's William F. Zeman, called Metro about the incident, transit officials put out a statement. They confirmed something happened, but Metro's version of events downplayed some of the more dramatic elements of the tale: There were only two robbers, and they committed the act with their bare hands. "The victims did not report the use of a weapon during the incident," said Metro. Even more comforting, the supposedly kicked males walked away with only a few scratches. "The victims were treated for minor lacerations at the station," Metro said. Metro also said the culprits were later arrested by transit cops.

Though no reference to the Orange Line is made, an MPD police report obtained by City Desk seems to be about the same caper. In this incident, as in Metro's story, there were two victims. The police report identifies them both as juveniles who were robbed of the type of items—cellphones and clothing—Metro says its unfortunate passengers were deprived of. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says it's the only robbery listed around the time and area the Orange Line robbery occurred; even if transit police had been called to the scene of the Orange Line robbery first, MPD would have shown up and done its own report. Though Metro crime is handled by transit police, "they do assist us," Metro spokesperson Steven Taubenkibel says of MPD.

In the report, MPD says there weren't six suspects, the way the witness said, or even two, the way Metro said. There were three. But the report agrees with the witness account on one one important issue: There was a gun. One victim told cops that a robber pointed a silver revolver at his head and made a demand: "You already know what time it is, so hand over what you got." In the MPD account, though, the victim is hit in the head with the gun. There's no mention of kicking.

Neither MPD or Metro has responded to inquiries regarding whether MPD's report is about the same incident or why that report might contradict Metro's statement.

Photo by hyku via Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

Around noon on Saturday, an unidentified man moved into the path of a train at the Potomac Avenue station in Southeast and was struck by an Orange Line train.  EMS technicians worked to free the man and eventually transported him to a local hospital but he later died from his injuries.  Approximately 24 hours later, Gweno Ladisch, a French woman living in Chevy Chase, also purposely placed herself in front of a train at Bethesda station and died as a result.  Metro suicides like these are tragic, isolated incidents but are becoming more frequent, according to a poll in today's Examiner.  It's the other incidents of violence that have greater shock value.

Yesterday, two employees of the Potomac and Rappahannock Transit Commission were shot and killed at a bus terminal in Prince William County.  A suspect, Glenn Wade, who also happened to be a roommate of one of the victims, turned himself in and was charged with murder last night.  According to police, an altercation between the two men may have resulted in the shooting, but a reason behind the action doesn't make it better.

What is it about this area?  It was only last November that a 15 year old boy was shot and killed on a Ride-On bus in Silver Spring.  Two years ago, people nation-wide were praising Wesley Autry, the New Yorker who saved a stranger's life by throwing himself onto the tracks as the train passed over them.  In DC, four people have died in three days with little fanfare.  Our public transit system needs a safety overhaul, that's for sure.  But maybe Washingtonians aren't fazed.  According to Metro's ridership statistics, the number of people using Metro is constantly rising.