New Metrorail Lighting at Foggy Bottom
Up in the roof, its a sun, its a star, its new bright white lights for Foggy Bottom WMATA commuters.
Installed around a month ago, the lights bring a new level of brightness to what was a dim section of Metrorail platform. No word on the illumination expansion plans from the station manager.
Regardless, what do you think about the new lights? Personally, while I think a few stations a tad too dark, these lights are way too bright for WMATA to install in every station. Especially cold skin-bleaching blue-white fluoresent lights.
Actually, those are LED light fixtures rather than fluorescent. Here’s a blurb from the company that makes them: http://www.sslighting.net/documents/articles/cldoc/8371.html
I agree that having REALLY bright surfaces like that in a metro station is very uncomfortable for the eyes.
It’s always weird coming into Foggy Bottom now that everything’s bright as day down there, it’s almost like there’s been some awful murder or something and they’re doing the chalk outlines…
I noticed them this week when my train pulled into the station. I was reading a book and all of a sudden had the feeling that I ended up on a blue line train and was pulling into Arlington Cemetery. The lights definitely give a feeling of being outdoors. At least from my perspective sitting on the train.
I’ve always thought that many of the stations are too dark and I feel like this poses a safety hazard. I’m surprised that more people don’t complain about feeling unsafe on a dark platform. Some of the stations get pretty empty late at night.
They are a bit too bright, but that’s a better problem than platforms that are too dim.