The entire D.C. Metro system is about to shut down for 29 hours

An estimated 700,000 Washington, D.C.-area residents are going to have a tough time getting to work on Wednesday. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials announced Tuesday afternoon that the entire D.C. Metrorail system will shut down at midnight for 29 hours so emergency safety checks of 600 underground electrical cables on the tracks can be conducted.

"While the risk to the public is very low, I cannot rule out a potential life safety issue here, and that is why we must take this action immediately," Metro General Manager and CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld said at a Tuesday press conference. "We say safety is our highest priority, I mean it. That sometimes means making tough, unpopular decisions and this is one of those times. I fully recognize the hardship this will cause."

The "unprecedented" shutdown of the nation's second-busiest transit network, which The Associated Press reports serves "hundreds of thousands of workers in the federal government and private sector alike," follows a cable fire Monday that caused massive delays on three subway lines. Monday's fire marks the system's second such cable malfunction. Last year, a fire caused by the same sort of electrical component caused one passenger to die and dozens to become sick after the train filled with smoke.

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Metro is expected to reopen at 5 a.m. Thursday.