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The arcing is not uncommon. I've seen it happen in person once. Years ago, we drove right past some arcing and nobody but my wife and I noticed, and we said nothing. All the other passengers either didn't notice it, or assumed the very bright arcing light was just a light in the tunnel. We rode right past and continued on our way as if nothing happened.
There needs to be a balance between training the drivers to behave in a predictable way when confronted with an issue, and throwing the book out the window when they need to make a decision on the ground. Once passengers lose faith in the leaders during an emergency, they take matters into their own hands, like the ones who self evacuated this time before they knew the power was turned off to the third rail. It's fortunate that nobody died doing that. But Metro is to blame for letting the passengers get that panicked.
There wasn't a lot this driver could do on a dead train, but the drivers should be trained in making announcements, even when they don't have any concrete information from Central Control to relay. Something as simple as acknowledging the smoke and suggesting passengers sit on the floor where smoke would be less thick. Reminding the passengers that the tunnel is made of concrete and can't burn. That it's most likely an electrical fire, even if the driver can't see that, they should have the experience to know that. And a reminder that the third rail carries a high current and will fry them if they get off the train before it's turned off. Cover your mouth with a jacket or something and just sit tight until help comes.
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