WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's (Metro) top officials warned Wednesday that the transit system is in such need of repair that they might shut down entire rail lines for as long as six months for maintenance, The Washington Post reported.

The officials’ comments, made during a high-level conference of local leaders, underlined the depth of Metro’s problems, which are steadily becoming more apparent as Metro GM Paul J. Wiedefeld continues to probe the rail system’s defects since he took over as the transit agency’s chief executive in November, according to the report.

Until now, Metro has typically done repair work at night or during short shutdowns over weekends. An exception was the unprecedented shutdown of the entire system on a regular workday March 16 for emergency track safety inspections, The Washington Post reported.

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