Could also be whatever car he got on. I took the Blue from Alexandria to Smithsonian around 5pm yesterday and sat in the front car of the train. My car never got more than half full but at almost every stop from DCA to Smithsonian as we pulled into the station the driver would announce "Folks on the platform move to the ends of the train where there's room. The middle cars are completely full." We sat for probably 5-10 minutes tops at DCA but otherwise there weren't any other holding delays on my train.

But holy shit that crowd coming into Smithsonian around 6pm! Like a sardine can! They didn't even bother with fares. All the fare gates were locked open and a mix of MTPD & station agents (like 4-6 at least) directing the crowd (and probably trying to avoid a crowd crush)