# WASHINGTON | Metro



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Efforts to Repair Aging System Compound Metro's Problems *
Lyndsey Layton and Jo Becker 
5 June 2005
Washington Post

Washington's world-class subway system, which for three decades has shaped the metropolitan region and delivered thousands of commuters to work on time, has fallen into a decline -- and mismanagement has been a key factor, records show. 

Trains break down 64 percent more often than they did three years ago, and the number of daily delays has nearly doubled since 2000. Although the vast majority of trains are on time, more than 14,400 subway riders a day are inconvenienced by a delay or a mechanical problem that forces them off broken trains. 

Metro officials have spent nearly $1 billion in recent years to turn around the nation's second busiest subway system, but internal records show that the projects have created new problems. 

To ease chronic crowding, Metro purchased 192 rail cars at a cost of $383 million. But the agency tried to rush the cars through production and often missed mistakes made on the assembly line. And on average, the new cars need major repairs almost as often as the oldest ones in the fleet. 

Metro is spending an additional $382 million to rebuild rail cars bought in the 1980s. Officials failed to closely monitor the repair work, didn't catch mistakes and ignored warnings from auditors about the lack of supervision. The refurbished cars are now breaking down far more often than those that haven't been overhauled. 

And a $93 million project to renovate 178 escalators has managed to make many of them worse. More than a third have been breaking down more often than they did before, a Washington Post analysis of Metro statistics shows. The project follows a failed attempt, also costing millions, to improve the aging machinery. 

The performance of Metro carries extraordinarily high stakes, both for the system and the metropolitan area. The public invested more than $10 billion to build the subway. As its lines have spread across Washington and its suburbs, the system has fueled population growth, revitalized neighborhoods and stitched together a diverse region. Businesses select locations and families buy homes based on proximity to a Metro station. The subway is critical to the federal workforce. And people increasingly depend on it; since 2000, ridership is up 18 percent to more than 650,000 passengers daily. 

In a region with some of the worst traffic in the country, access to reliable mass transit could determine whether the area continues to attract businesses and residents. 

Christened in 1976 as "America's subway," Metro can claim real accomplishments. It created cathedral stations lauded by architects and built a 106-mile subway with few mishaps. It remains popular among commuters and tourists. And on Sept. 11, 2001, it proved critical to evacuating Washington. 

Now, managers are grappling with problems ranging from train delays to bad publicity over rude customer service to a federal investigation into a November train crash. The agency is struggling to make the transition from a young rail system focused on constructing lines to a mature system that must maintain what it has built. 

"It's a shame," said Brian Graff, an economist who rides regularly, as he stood on a Red Line platform at the Metro Center Station. "I think this was once the best subway system in the country, but you can't say that anymore." 

Chief Executive Richard A. White, who has been running Metro for nearly nine years, traces many of the problems to record numbers of riders, aging equipment and a railroad design undersized for the job. If Metro had more money, he said, he could fix much of what ails the transit system and restore its luster. 

At the moment, Metro is seeking $1.5 billion from Congress. That would come in addition to $1.8 billion recently approved by local and state governments as part of an emergency plan to maintain the system and avoid what White terms a "death spiral" of deteriorating service. Metro is also campaigning intensely for a long-term source of funding, such as a regional sales tax, to buy rail cars and buses and expand stations to accommodate growth. 

But a tight budget does not fully explain Metro's decline. 

*Management Problems *

Post reporters spent six months reviewing agency records, many of which never had been made public because Metro considers itself exempt from federal, state and local public records laws. Under pressure to become more accountable, Metro agreed to release the documents and has revised its public records policy. 

The documents portray an insular and often byzantine bureaucracy that operates with little outside oversight, spending tens of millions of dollars on promised fixes that don't turn out as advertised. Even when problems were flagged, the records show, little was done to address them. 

Responding to those and other findings during the preparation of this series of articles, White has been announcing changes by the week in the hopes of solving problems that have festered for years. 

"Every piece of dirty laundry we have, you've found it. And some problems I didn't know about -- you've probably found those, too," he said. "My job now is to demonstrate that we're not blind to this stuff, and we are fixing whatever problems need to be fixed." 

After commuting to work for four years in his Metro-issued sport-utility vehicle, White in October resumed riding the system he oversees. In February, he announced the resignation of his second in command and reorganized the agency for the third time since taking the helm. He brought in outside experts to tell him how to operate the system more efficiently. And he ordered closer supervision of the programs to buy and overhaul rail cars, dispatching his most trusted lieutenants to solve the mechanical problems that have plagued them. 

White said that his agency has lacked clear "lines of authority" and that about "25 percent" of Metro's woes can be traced to poor management. But he said his changes are beginning to show results. In April, for instance, the troubled new rail cars had their best month yet, helping Metro reduce the overall number of train delays. 

"These investments will pan out," White said. He said the system would be much worse off if the projects to upgrade cars and escalators had not been undertaken. And overall, he said, Metro is a safe, efficient system that serves its customers well. 

But if it is going to meet the region's future needs, Metro must win the kind of ongoing, dedicated funding that goes to every other subway system in the country, he said. The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for example, receives about a fourth of its $8 billion annual operating and capital budget directly from a portion of the state sales tax and other levies. 

By contrast, Metro has to ask for operating subsidies each year from 10 governments in the Washington area. That forces it to compete with schools, police and other municipal needs for funds. A 2004 Brookings Institution study found that, unless it gets a stable source of income, Metro will be condemned to a future of red ink. 

But even some transit advocates are questioning whether taxpayers can trust Metro with additional dollars. Gus Bauman, a former Montgomery County planner, in January voted in favor of automatic funding as part of a regional task force. But, Bauman said, "there's no way [White and his managers] can go to the public with some sort of tax proposal to save Metro without fixing this problem of management accountability." 

White describes Metro's daily challenge this way: "One thousand, five hundred and thirty-eight times a day we run a train that has to make a total of 35,419 stops, and almost a million times a day doors have to open and shut properly. That's a lot of opportunity for things to go wrong." 

As ridership has exploded, so has the number of delays caused by passengers. These incidents -- riders who stick briefcases into doors to keep them open, for example -- account for one of every five delays. 

But the biggest cause of delays, by far, is mechanical problems with the rail cars. And Metro's efforts to improve the record, by overhauling old cars and buying new ones, aren't working very well. 

*'Possessed' Cars *

On a recent morning at the Greenbelt rail yard, CAF car No. 5133 was perched high on a lift. It had broken down twice in the same week, this time because it wouldn't accelerate properly. Bob Popp, a Metro electrician, climbed a ladder into the car, tilted open one of the seats and hooked up a laptop to the diagnostic equipment that lay beneath. 

"It's a CAF wiring problem," Popp told a manager after a few clicks of the keyboard. 

Metro's $383 million program to buy nearly 200 rail cars from CAF Inc., a firm in Spain, has been marred by a series of highly visible problems as well as some the agency has yet to make public, including a possible design flaw that may be behind a string of derailments, records show. 

"Those cars have been a headache from Day One," said Jackie Rhodes Jeter, a spokeswoman for Local 689 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Metro's largest employee union, representing about 8,000 bus drivers, train operators, mechanics and other workers. 

The new CAF cars suffer major mechanical problems almost as often as Metro's oldest rail cars, which were built in the 1970s. In fact, they traveled an average of only 319 miles farther -- or 7 percent -- before needing major repairs, an analysis of 12 months of Metro statistics shows. Problems with CAF cars caused passengers to be delayed once every 52,420 miles on average -- far short of the 72,000-mile goal Metro set when it bought the cars. 

Those numbers include dramatic improvements the cars showed in March and April, the latest months for which Metro provided statistics. Some of that improvement is due to stopgap measures to reduce delays and problems, said Steven A. Feil, who took over Metro's rail operations last summer. Instead of pulling problem trains out of service for repairs, Metro is now running them unless they present a safety hazard, he said. Metro is trying to improve train performance by sending in workers to hand-scrub faulty electronic relays. 

Feil acknowledged that those kinds of "quick fixes" cannot be sustained over time. He also has begun an aggressive effort to shore up the rail bed. Track problems cause nearly one in five passenger delays. 

Meanwhile, four CAF trains derailed in less than 18 months. In each case, the trains derailed in places where the track was worn. None was carrying passengers, and all were operating at a low speed while rounding a sharp bend, typically found in rail yards and not on the main railroad. For those reasons, Metro officials have decided against pulling them from service. 

Safety director Fred Goodine said he believes the risk of derailment for a CAF train filled with passengers is "negligible." 

Still, Goodine pushed Metro to launch an investigation into whether the cars' design may make them prone to jumping the tracks, records show. Metro engineers insist the design is fine; the agency's safety officials are less certain. 

"Based upon this and previous accidents . . . there seems to be something different . . . in the way the 5000 series cars negotiate tight spirals and curves," a safety report concluded after an Oct. 1 derailment. 

When the CAF cars rolled off the assembly line with their red, white and blue interiors, they stood out from the orange hues of the rest of the fleet. The cars, the last of which were delivered in 2004, came equipped with sophisticated computer software, including the equivalent of an airliner's "black box" to give mechanics precise information about malfunctions. The cars also were the first to run all their electrical systems on alternating current, which produces less dust and is supposed to make the systems easier to maintain. 

But CAF neglected to provide Metro with some technical documentation proving parts were installed properly, agency officials said. Other records were written in Spanish, leaving Metro managers unsure of what they were reading. 

Although CAF had made rail cars for transit systems in other countries, Metro was its first U.S. customer. The Federal Transit Administration questioned Metro's decision to hire CAF, citing the contract in a 2000 audit as evidence that Metro doesn't always determine whether its contractors are technically qualified. 

Software bugs on the highly automated cars bedeviled engineers; once they fixed one, they said, others would spring up. Records also point to basic manufacturing defects: faulty wiring, sloppy assembly and substandard materials that Metro had approved. As of May, Metro officials said, they had made 170 engineering changes to try to correct flaws. 

Still, the cars' performance has remained erratic. Some months, they seemed to improve, but then their reliability would plummet again, records show. "They're possessed," said Thomas E. Ferer, a senior Metro operations analyst. 

Many of the defects were not discovered until after the cars were built because Metro and CAF failed to perform sufficient checks along the assembly line to monitor the manufacturing process, according to records and interviews with Metro officials. CAF wasn't consistently checking the quality of parts delivered by suppliers and was rushing the cars through testing, Metro documents show. And agency inspectors didn't object when inferior materials were used. 

CAF's American representative, Virginia Verdeja, said the company would not comment. 

As the cars went into service, defects were evident, records show. Some wouldn't accelerate, others had faulty air conditioning, still others had persnickety doors that often refused to close. 

In 2001, with 78 cars built, Metro took the unusual step of halting production for three weeks. It told CAF to improve quality and redesign its assembly line. Production resumed, but troubles with the cars continue. 

In January 2002, a 58-year-old woman got her arm caught in a door and was dragged along the platform at Gallery Place because of a faulty door circuit in a CAF car. An investigation found that the circuit was poorly soldered at the factory -- a problem that should have been caught by Metro and CAF inspectors responsible for testing the components before the car was put into service. 

Two months later, a fire erupted on another CAF car. Metro traced the problem to an incorrectly wired heater. The problem was found on 33 other CAF cars, despite the fact that CAF and Metro employees had inspected and approved the wiring of the heaters, according to an internal investigation. 

More recently, Metro managers discovered that the floors of the cars are cracking and peeling beneath the carpet, prompting concerns that they will have to be replaced. Records show Metro approved the use of a flooring material that was inferior to what was initially required in the contract. 

Metro managers now agree that an unrealistic schedule is partly to blame for the flaws. The agency ordered a rush job because its board of directors wanted to open five Green Line stations by January 2001. "We were racing to beat the clock," White said. 

As it turned out, the cars were two years late because of the corrections that had to be made. 

Metro officials note that CAF reimbursed Metro $5 million for consulting fees and other costs the agency incurred because the cars were delivered late. Metro has yet to pay CAF more than $26 million that it owes, a sum officials said gives Metro some leverage to ensure that problems are corrected. 

White recognized that many of the problems should have been caught by Metro and three years ago strengthened the quality assurance department by giving it more autonomy. 

"We learned our lesson," White said. 

But records show the agency repeated many of the mistakes it made with its purchase of the CAF cars in its next large rail car project: rebuilding older cars to extend their lives. 

*Backward Steps *

On the morning of April 6, rail cars Nos. 2066 and 2067 clattered into the Alexandria yard shortly after breaking down on the Blue Line. Hundreds of passengers had been left on the platform at the Capitol South Station at 8:05 a.m. after a door problem prevented the operator from moving the train. 

The mechanics at Alexandria were familiar with the two cars; both had been sidelined the day before with mechanical problems. Both were Breda cars, built by the Italian firm Breda Costruzioni Ferroviarie in the early 1980s. And both had recently undergone an expensive refurbishment. 

Metro is spending $382 million to overhaul 364 Breda cars. The cars need new propulsion, braking and train control systems, among other upgrades. 

Two at a time, they are loaded onto a special tractor-trailer and driven six hours north to the Hornell, N.Y., plant of French engineering giant Alstom Transportation Inc. There, workers strip the cars to their metal skeletons and rebuild them with new components or remanufactured parts. They sandblast the aluminum frames, repair cracks and repaint the exteriors. The interiors get a makeover in the red, white and blue color scheme of the CAF cars. 

The process takes about 60 days for each car and is meant to ensure that they last another 20 years. 

But it has not made the cars more reliable. Over the past year, records show that the renovated cars suffered major mechanical problems 72 percent more often than those that did not undergo the expensive work and were twice as likely to cause delays. Doors won't close properly, the automatic train control and auxiliary power malfunction and the trains don't always stop precisely, a Metro evaluation in late March found. The performance of the rebuilt Breda cars is so poor, it is dragging down the reliability of the entire Metrorail fleet. 

"Those cars are killing me," said Feil, who needs 758 functioning cars every morning to meet rush hour demand. 

White and others say quality is a problem that haunts the entire U.S. transit industry, in part because so few companies make or rebuild rail cars. Unlike automobiles, rail cars are built to order, so there is little standardization or opportunity to work out kinks from one generation of cars to the next. 

He points to Boston, where the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority recently canceled a $225 million contract with Breda after new rail cars derailed nine times and were breaking down three times more often than the rest of its fleet. 

*Weak Oversight *

During the rehabilitation of its Breda cars, White said Metro has been careful to monitor Alstom's work. "We ride these guys and manage these contracts with a level of vigilance and manpower that is very high," he said. 

But auditors in Metro's quality assurance department repeatedly warned that the agency's failure to oversee the program was to blame for many of the problems. 

In July 2002, Metro auditors visited Alstom's plant and concluded that while the company was committed to providing a good product, Metro was making it difficult. Metro engineers had approved questionable wiring material and techniques, for example, without justifying that the wiring would work as well or last as long as required by the contract, auditors found. 

Booz Allen Hamilton, the consultant hired by Metro to ensure quality in manufacturing, was conducting only "loosely structured inspections" of the cars without adequately documenting the cause of problems and the steps being taken to prevent them from recurring, auditors said. 

Metro's oversight of the program had suffered a "breakdown" that must be quickly addressed, they concluded. "Time is of the essence," auditors warned. 

Despite the warnings, problems persisted. 

One of the first rebuilt Breda cars caught fire during a 2003 test run, the result of an electrical wiring problem, records show. In May 2004, Metro's auditors found that the cars that had been returned to service were hobbled by poor propulsion, badly installed door hardware and water leaks from evaporator assemblies. 

Two months later, auditors once again targeted Booz Allen, saying that the ways it monitored production and inspected completed cars "clearly require improvement." Metro has paid Booz Allen more than $13.1 million for its management of the Breda contract, according to agency officials. 

Booz Allen spokesman George Farrar said that "all of the issues that were raised in those various audits have been resolved to the satisfaction of [Metro's] management." 

Alstom officials said in a statement that with a project of this magnitude, some adjustments are always necessary. The company said it is working closely with Metro to improve the reliability of the cars. "Both teams agree that there are problems and we are now working together to fix them," the statement said. 

Rich Buettner, Metro's chief quality assurance auditor, was blunt in assessing the extent to which the problems with CAF and Breda cars could be blamed on Metro's poor oversight: "Most of it." While Buettner had raised alarms about both contracts, he had no authority to force the operations department that managed the contracts to act on his recommendations. 

"It was frustrating," Buettner said, particularly because "the thing we were fighting for was to ensure that we got our money's worth." 

In March, White reassigned the job of managing the projects from the operations department to P. Takis Salpeas, a Metro assistant general manager whose department built the railroad. Salpeas has since announced that his engineers had found part of the problem: a faulty electronic relay in the automatic train control system in the CAF and Breda cars. Though the relay has been swapped out twice before, Salpeas said he is crossing his fingers that the latest replacement, as well as repairs to the doors, will do the trick. "If we're lucky, come Christmas you're going to see tremendous improvement," he said. 

Feil said it is too early to tell whether that prediction will bear out. "I'm cautiously optimistic," he said. 

Maryland Secretary of Transportation Robert L. Flanagan reacted to the Post's findings by saying it is "outrageous" that Metro's senior managers failed to disclose the role they played in the problems with the CAF and Breda contracts, particularly since Maryland and other jurisdictions have pledged $1.8 billion to the agency. 

"We've made a commitment . . . for a substantial infusion of funding," he said. "This information causes us grave concern about whether we're going to get value for that increased investment." 

Database editor Sarah Cohen contributed to this report.


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## superchan7 (Jan 21, 2004)

Man, that stinks. I heard about Washington D.C. having a good metro system by American standards. Hong Kong's CAF cars (of course, worlds away from DC's cars in appearance and purpose) also have more problems than the old English trains. They also have paint problems, which is unfortunate because I think they're Hong Kong's best looking trains!


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## sky10 (Aug 8, 2005)

*washington dc metro*

why is the washington dc metro so unique unlike any other subway systems in the states?


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## Rene Nunez (Mar 14, 2005)

I wouldnt say unique but nice it is. It's probably because of the U.S government and it's washington d.c. "sterile white" look gone "subway"


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## micro (Mar 13, 2005)

It's the design:


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## Rail Claimore (Sep 11, 2002)

That and it's bankrolled by the feds. DC will always get much more than it needs compared to the rest of the country.


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## reluminate (Aug 3, 2004)

sky10 said:


> why is the washington dc metro so unique unlike any other subway systems in the states?


Its much newer than most other big American subways, especially if you're comparing to the New York Subway.


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## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

micro said:


> It's the design:


Yes, you are right.
I agree with you!


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## Nick in Atlanta (Nov 5, 2003)

My favorite thing about the DC Metro is the numerous multi-line stations primarily in the Downtown and Capitol/Mall area. 

I also love that it's mostly underground, unlike our Marta system in Atlanta which was built on railroad right of ways. The only problem with that is that population tends not to cluster around noisy railroad lines.


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

I really like the Metro. The stations all look (pretty much) the same, but I think they age well. It's great they're still building out.


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## ChgoLvr83 (Aug 1, 2004)

Rail Claimore said:


> That and it's bankrolled by the feds. DC will always get much more than it needs compared to the rest of the country.


Actually, its not bankrolled by the feds anymore once they completed the originally planned system a few years ago (give or take a couple). Metro has to fight for transportation funding like the rest of US transit systems now. Nonetheless, its a beautiful system. I started riding it when I was nine years old and its funny but quality has suffered abit since then...not complaining, just stating but its still light years ahead of all of the other large systems in the US. 

Now living in Chicago, Ive always felt this city would be perfect if I couldve taken Metro from DC with me to Chicago. I hate the CTA!

Ahhh Metro, how I miss thee...


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## micro (Mar 13, 2005)

samsonyuen said:


> I really like the Metro. The stations all look (pretty much) the same, but I think they age well. It's great they're still building out.


Like all good designs it is of timeless beauty.


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## addisonwesley (Jun 19, 2005)

A very unique look.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Washington Metro - Video Screens Coming Soon?*

*Metro wants to speed up plan to boost revenue *
10 March 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) - A plan that calls for thousands of monitors to be installed on Metro trains and buses is gaining popularity. 

Metro officials want to speed up plans to install the video screens, which the transit agency claims could substantially boost advertising revenue. 

The 14-inch monitors would show a combination of ads, news and Metro information. Officials say the monitors could increase revenue by as much as three (m) million dollars a year. 

Metro general manager Dan Tangherlini says a pilot program that would be tested on Blue and Orange line trains could be ready to go by this summer. Tangherlini has been given the go-ahead to negotiate a long-term contract with several bidders. 

Critics of the plan say the monitors would be an unwanted distraction.


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## Observer Walt (Sep 19, 2005)

14-inch monitors? Pretty small.


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## elkram (Apr 1, 2006)

I can't stand Montreal's -- huge screens suspended above the platforms that outmatch the crossection of a train here. (The transit authority here's now going about at gradually plastering gigantic vinyl ads onto vaulted station walls -- Atwater station's the latest example).

Cheers,
Chris


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Washington subway debuts ads on tunnel walls *
By DERRILL HOLLY 
4 April 2006

WASHINGTON (AP) - Metrorail riders on Tuesday got their first glimpses at animated tunnel advertisements that transit system officials hope will generate millions of dollars in revenue. 

Two systems installed on a Red Line subway tunnel wall began showing short commercials for a cable television channel and a luxury sedan. The ads are located on a downtown eastbound route between the Metro Center and Judiciary Square stations. 

"Transit is a great place to reach the consumer," said Peter M. Corrigan, chief executive officer of Submedia, LLC, the New York-based firm that will install at least four animated ads over the next three years. 

Ad revenues from Metrorail stations, buses, subway cars and bus shelters are expected to total $33 million this year. The tunnel project will generate $800,000 in revenue for Metro by the end of next year. 

Metro hopes to use the money to pay for passenger information systems, bomb containment trash cans and other improvements. 

The technology is based on the zoetrope, a 19th-century toy that used a spinning cylinder placed near a light source to create the illusion of movement by still pictures. 

In the Metrorail tunnel, the still pictures are mounted in backlit boxes that are three feet high and four feet wide. It takes 139 photographs to present a 15-second ad in the Metrorail system. 

The company has recently installed ads in subways in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. The ads have been running for a longer time in Hong Kong and Tokyo. Among its customers are Coca-Cola Co., UAL Corp.'s United Airlines, General Motors Corp., and Target Corp. 

"It may make the trip a little shorter and a little more interesting," said Dan Tangherlini, Metro's interim general manager. 

------ 

On the Net: 
Submedia: http://www.sub-media.com 
Metro: http://www.wmata.com/


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

I think it's a good way for transit authorities to boost their income. It's pretty beneficial for passengers too.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Md. officials say Metro should be extended to BWI *
9 April 2006

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Elected officials and transportation planners in Maryland are increasingly talking about the need for extending Metrorail to Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. 

But even boosters of the multibillion-dollar proposal concede they're a long way from breaking ground. 

Late last month, the legislature approved a $1 million study of a proposed 20-mile extension of Metro's Green Line. Supporters of the project say Maryland should move quickly to keep up with Virginia, which is moving closer to extending Metrorail to Dulles International Airport. 

"Clearly, we're racing the clock, because they are going to start building that rail up to Dulles," said Sen. John Giannetti, D-Prince George's. "If we don't connect Metro to BWI, we're not going to remain competitive." 

The Pentagon's base realignment plan, which some officials say could bring as many as 50,000 residents to the Fort Meade area, is another reason to get moving with the Metro extension, Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan said. 

"You don't want the growth to occur and then to try to catch up with it. That ties your hands," Flanagan said. "We need to anticipate growth that we know is going to occur and plan the subway and the growth together so that they work in unison." 

Flanagan said the Green Line extension would likely be just the first of several links between the transit systems of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., which are transforming into a single metropolitan region. 

According to early estimates, the extension could cost about $2.5 billion. Aris Melissaratos, Maryland's secretary of business and economic development, said he wants the extension to be completed within 10 years. Other officials and transit advocates said it was too early to offer any estimates. 

The study by state transportation planners is not scheduled to be completed until early 2008. 

"We need to take a reality check. All of this is pretty far out," said Ben Ross, president of the Action Committee for Transit, a public transportation advocacy group in Montgomery County. 

The Green Line extension would create the first Metro station in Anne Arundel County, and one proposal would also bring Metrorail to Howard County for the first time. 

"We have to encourage people to get off the roads," said Anne Arundel County Executive Janet Owens, who supports the extension project. "If everyone is in gridlock, that doesn't help the economy, that doesn't help the environment, that doesn't help any of us." 

The Green Line currently ends at Greenbelt. State officials said there is general agreement that new stops would be built at BWI, Fort Meade, Laurel and a development called Konterra in Prince George's County, near where the future intercounty connector will meet Interstate 95. 

Giannetti has proposed a route that would also include stations at Dorsey, Odenton Town Center and Guilford, the last of which is in Howard County. 

"You really need Howard County's money to make this work," Giannetti said. "That's why we need a stop there." 

Melissaratos said he hoped the federal government would pay for up to 90 percent of the project, with the rest coming from state, county and private investments. But Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said funding remains a major obstacle. 

"Whenever anybody considers expanding transit, it's something that we're always in favor of," she said. "The challenge will be whether that's something that Maryland could possibly fund."


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## Chi-town Kid (Jul 15, 2005)

The East Coast is so cloistered together, it's ridiculous.

Out here in Chicago, no one would even think of extending the Purple Line to the Milwaukee airport simply because its way too far away.

Anyways, given the proximity of Baltimore and Washington D.C., it sounds like a good proposal. However, in order to be time-efficient, the Green Line would have to travel REALLY fast. If that's possible, go ahead and build it.


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## zswsd342 (May 6, 2007)

*D.C metro silver line and others*

I notice that i have never seen a post about it (and i may be wrong) but what about the Washington D.C metro.What about the silver line has any progress been made? Official plans,constuction anything? Any pics would be nice or comments or opinions on it. I have grown up with the Washington D.C metro and I must say compared to some others its preety nice. Its extrememly clean,well organized, and except for the fares easy to understand. Not the best but definetly not the worst. All opinons would be appreciaited. But most of all pictures please.If u have anything at all please post it. It does no good to talk about something and leave people hanging wondering what youre talking about. 

Thanks


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## Falubaz (Nov 20, 2004)

D.C???? wtf is D.C??


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## SYDNEYAHOLIC (Nov 3, 2006)

Washington D.C. (District of Columbia) the capitol of America (USA - United States of America).


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## Falubaz (Nov 20, 2004)

i thought silver line is in Boston, and Washington has only blue/red/yellow and orange ones.


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## coreyt (Dec 25, 2005)

Almost. The Silver line that is in Boston is a crappy BRT line that they tout as another full-fledged metro line. The Silver line in Washington DC is the proposed name of the orange line extension to Washington Dulles airport. Lots of metro systems around the world use colors to identify lines, so don't just assume that there is only one silver line, for example.


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## Electrify (Mar 19, 2007)

coreyt said:


> Almost. The Silver line that is in Boston is a crappy BRT line that they tout as another full-fledged metro line. The Silver line in Washington DC is the proposed name of the orange line extension to Washington Dulles airport. Lots of metro systems around the world use colors to identify lines, so don't just assume that there is only one silver line, for example.


What is so bad about Boston's Silver line, besides the fact it is not a subway or LRT, of course???


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## shurik (Sep 9, 2005)

there is also a green line in DC. silver line project is now struggling to go through all the necessary approvals with ..seriously tons of agencies. there is also a lot of scandals surrounding the project, such as its costs and lack of publicity. a lot of people are opposed to the project also.


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## Cirrus (Mar 13, 2007)

The Silver Line is currently in the middle of gaining approvals. Fairfax County voted just yesterday to fund its portion. Remaining approvals should come in the next few months, and construction can begin late this year or early next.

Here is what the Metro map will look like when they add the Silver line (sort of - you'll notice the yellow line extension that is already operating isn't shown, nor is the Anacostia streetcar which is currently under construction).


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## Cirrus (Mar 13, 2007)

> there is also a green line in DC. silver line project is now struggling to go through all the necessary approvals with ..seriously tons of agencies. there is also a lot of scandals surrounding the project, such as its costs and lack of publicity. a lot of people are opposed to the project also.


Very few people are opposed to the project. The controversy is whether it will be an elevated line or a subway through Tysons Corner. 

It will be an el.

By the way, I'm on the Advisory Committee for the Transportation Planning Board. Any questions on DC area transportation, shoot them my way.


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## zswsd342 (May 6, 2007)

Ok since you're on the transportation board i was wondering why would u try to run the silver line all the way to stadium armory? Can metro center and lafant plaza handle the extra trains? How will this change the frequency of trains? And where is the schedule for construction? If the argument over planning is still going when will construction start? Are the plans for phase 1 going to be pushed back? Sorry i have a ton of questions. lol


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## Cirrus (Mar 13, 2007)

> why would u try to run the silver line all the way to stadium armory? Can metro center and lafant plaza handle the extra trains? How will this change the frequency of trains?


It's just renaming to Silver existing runs on the Orange line. Because of the Rossyln tunnel bottleneck, it's impossible to add a lot of new runs to the existing track, so if they didn't run the Silver line all the way to Stadium-Armory that would mean many fewer trains operating in the core of DC (where ridership is heaviest) than exist today. What this ultimately means is that there will likely be slightly fewer trains going to Vienna and Springfield, but *more* in the congested part between Rosslyn and Ballston.



> where is the schedule for construction?


It depends on the speed with which approvals can be secured, but right now we're looking at opening of the first phase (to Wiehle Ave) in 2013.



> If the argument over planning is still going when will construction start? Are the plans for phase 1 going to be pushed back?


The argument over planning is over. At this point the tunnel crowd is just wasting their breath making noise. The line is going to be an el. It would take an act of god to change that now (and if so the project will be delayed at least 2-3 years). 

In the long term a tunnel would be better, and it's a shame that it's not going to happen. But it's not going to happen.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

What about the purple line? And forgive my ignorance, but why would it take 6 years to open the first portion of the Silver Line?


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## zswsd342 (May 6, 2007)

I think because they have to start fresh. There are no existing bridges or something that can be used to make do so they have to build everything from scratch.Stations,parking lots,and of course the bridges and rails all of these have to be built and im assuming those arent easily completed in a few years time. But im just guessing so dont take it exactly cause i may be wrong.


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## shurik (Sep 9, 2005)

Cirrus said:


> Very few people are opposed to the project. The controversy is whether it will be an elevated line or a subway through Tysons Corner.
> 
> It will be an el.
> 
> By the way, I'm on the Advisory Committee for the Transportation Planning Board. Any questions on DC area transportation, shoot them my way.



OK, I guess its because when I read "The Exeminer", they give a lot of negative view of the project. Do you know why are they so concentrated on trashing it almost every day in that paper???


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## BoulderGrad (Jun 29, 2005)

Any renderings of stations or anything like that? It would be cool to see if they're going to do anything grand architecturally at the airport (it would complement the airport afterall). Where will they be running the line? Will it be down the center of the toll road (I at least vaguely remember a large grassy median strip), or off to one side?


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## fetg_ (May 29, 2007)

Cirrus said:


> Very few people are opposed to the project. The controversy is whether it will be an elevated line or a subway through Tysons Corner.
> 
> It will be an el.


Why does it have to go underground? What important stuff will be demolished if it goes above?


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

It'd be great to have it, but I really think the area around Tyson's should be underground.


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## Cirrus (Mar 13, 2007)

_>What about the purple line?_
What about it? The Purple Line’s problems are political. Ehrlich had no desire to build it at all, but couldn’t say that publicly, so he just let it sit. O’Malley wants it built, but will have to tell the Chevy Chase Country Club folks to shove it first.

_> And forgive my ignorance, but why would it take 6 years to open the first portion of the Silver Line?_ 
Not only do they have to build everything from scratch, but they have to do it while making sure all the roads in Tysons stay open and (relatively) free flowing in the mean time. It’s an incredibly difficult job.

_>when I read "The Exeminer", they give a lot of negative view of the project. Do you know why are they so concentrated on trashing it almost every day in that paper???_
I don’t read the Examiner (don’t need a newspaper from San Francisco to tell me about local Washington issues), but my guess is that it’s the same reason the suburban Maryland Gazette newspapers are always so overwhelmingly pro ICC: That’s what their advertising sponsors tell them to say. 

I can’t think of a single person who is against more transit in Tysons Corner. The only arguments anyone is taking the least bit seriously as over what form it should take (and that argument is over). Even the road lobby think tanks say we should build BRT.

_>Any renderings of stations or anything like that?_
See below.

_> It would be cool to see if they're going to do anything grand architecturally at the airport (it would complement the airport afterall)_
The airport station will be underground and will basically look like all the other underground Metro stations in DC.

_>Where will they be running the line? Will it be down the center of the toll road (I at least vaguely remember a large grassy median strip), or off to one side?_
It will be in the middle of the toll road except in Tysons Corner (where it will be elevated above Chain Bridge Road and Leesburg Pike) and at the Airport (where it will loop off the highway and connect with the terminal).

_>Why does it have to go underground? What important stuff will be demolished if it goes above?_
It doesn’t *have* to go underground. Nothing of consequence will be demolished to make way for it. The point of the line in Tysons Corner is to make it possible to transform Tysons Corner into a more traditional walkable downtown, like Ballston or Rosslyn, and an underground alignment would be more pedestrian friendly.


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## Cirrus (Mar 13, 2007)

Here are some pictures:

Map:









Here are exterior views of the various Tysons Corner stations. TOD will come to surround all the stations, but will be difficult because pedestrians will have to cross a bridge to get from surrounding parcels into the station.




































This is the park and ride station at the end of the line for the first phase, in the eastern part of Reston:








Some station interiors. Note the square floor tiles, which WMATA will be using for all new stations from now on:


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## Trainman Dave (Mar 30, 2007)

If I remember correctly the tunnels for the Silver line through Dulles Airport have already been built during the last remodeling some years ago. Is this true?


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## ianto (May 21, 2008)

*Metro*

Really nice system, I could not get enough! :applause:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywlapY3ZqQ


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## ariel340 (Feb 28, 2010)

I think the new line to IAD should include a stop at the Udvar-Hazy National Air & Space Museum.


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## Dan78 (Nov 17, 2009)

ariel340 said:


> I think the new line to IAD should include a stop at the Udvar-Hazy National Air & Space Museum.


That would take the Silver Line about 2.5 to 3 miles out of the way in exactly the wrong direction; a better idea would be a free bus shuttle between the Udvar-Hazy site and the proposed Route 28 Metro Silver Line stop (just outside the airport main gate). Who knows, maybe if we ever get light rail or interurban rail down Route 28 someday, they can have a station for Udvar-Hazy?


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## SamuraiBlue (Apr 2, 2010)

> *Kawasaki Heavy awarded order for subway cars by Washington metro*
> 
> Saturday 29th May, 04:08 AM JST
> 
> ...


News source; Kyodo News agency


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Man who created Metro's look critiques its clutter *
6 June 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) - The man who helped create the look of Washington's subway system said Saturday that some of the signs that have since gone up are clutter and should be taken down quietly in the night to preserve the architecture.

Massimo Vignelli, who designed the signage for Washington's Metro system as well as a map for the New York City subway system, spoke during a panel at Metro headquarters.

Vignelli's brown pylons with station names are an icon of the more than 100-mile system and its 86 stops. He designed the original signage throughout the system, which opened in 1976, but said it has since become cluttered with sign "pollution" that should be taken down.

"Get rid of it," said Vignelli, who spoke to about 80 people, only three of whom admitted having not ridden the Metro system.

He said after the talk that putting signs up on the walls of the system's vaulted stations was like putting advertising on a church or the White House.

Vignelli, who was born in Italy, was already known for New York's map before coming to Washington. In 1972, he designed a new map hailed by some for its clean, simple design. It became part of the collection of the city's Museum of Modern Art. But the map was also criticized for not relating the underground subway lines to aboveground geography. It was replaced in 1979.

In Washington, however, Vignelli said he got the job for designing the signage not because he was good but because he was a friend of Chicago architect Harry Weese, who was designing the system. Another man, Lance Wyman, designed the system's map.

Weese, who died in 1998 at the age of 83, wanted the design of his underground stations to reflect Rome's Pantheon and the Baths of Caracalla. As a result, Weese told Vignelli he didn't want anything hanging from the ceiling or attached to the walls of his stations.

Instead, to display station names and information, Vignelli proposed the square, brown pillars that dot the system today. The so-called "pylons" also hide air ducts and station lights. Originally the stations' names were only on the pillars, written like titles on the spines of books on a bookshelf.

Customers, however, complained, and a newspaper cartoonist poked fun at the system by drawing patrons coming out of it with their heads cocked, as if to read the signs.

"People were horrified at the beginning about the name going down like that," Vignelli said.

As a result, Metro put up signs that read left to right on the walls of stations. Vignelli said he disapproved because it detracted from the architecture, suggested the signs should be taken down quietly in the night.

"Signage should be kept to a minimum ... but be there when you need it," Vignelli said.

------

Online:

Vignelli Associates: http://www.vignelli.com


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## nouveau.ukiyo (Sep 20, 2007)

Can I post light rail information here or do I have to start a new thread?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...in-use-by-2013/2011/06/26/AG9dQQrH_story.html



> *D.C. streetcars now on track to be in use by 2013*
> 
> By Sarah Khan, Published: June 30
> 
> ...


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

I have a Baltimore - DC transit thread already , i wonder why they didn't merge the 2.


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## nouveau.ukiyo (Sep 20, 2007)

Ah, I see...found it: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1114781&page=7

This thread is old, so perhaps nobody noticed it was around. Perhaps a mod will see this post and merge these threads.


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## Professor L Gee (Aug 10, 2009)

Nexis said:


> I have a Baltimore - DC transit thread already , i wonder why they didn't merge the 2.


Still two different MSAs with separate transit systems. Only link they have is MARC, and that's outside the scope of this forum.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Professor L Gee said:


> Still two different MSAs with separate transit systems. Only link they have is MARC, and that's outside the scope of this forum.


The Baltimore system is small and both systems future wise will over lap.


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## Professor L Gee (Aug 10, 2009)

Nexis said:


> The Baltimore system is small


Still completely separate, so not really a reason to combine the two.



> and both systems future wise will over lap.


That's still a long way away (if it ever happens), and the extent of that overlap will be that BWI Airport has both a WMATA metro stop and a MTA light rail stop. Hardly an overlap to speak of.


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## nouveau.ukiyo (Sep 20, 2007)

Well gee, this in an interesting situation...if Washington and Baltimore's transit systems are considered separate, they should be in separate threads. However, in any case, this Washington Metro thread needs to be merged with either the Washington/Baltimore thread or a new Washington | Transit thread to avoid confusion.


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## Professor L Gee (Aug 10, 2009)

nouveau.ukiyo said:


> Well gee, this in an interesting situation...if Washington and Baltimore's transit systems are considered separate, they should be in separate threads. However, in any case, this Washington Metro thread needs to be merged with either the Washington/Baltimore thread or a new Washington | Transit thread to avoid confusion.


It's called "Washington Metro" because Washington's subway system is called the "Metro," not because the two cities belong to the same MSA (which they don't...). It's also the only rapid transit that Washington (currently) has.

Maybe in the future, once either the streetcar or the Purple Line opens, it can be merged with a new "Transit" thread... but right now it's fine as it is.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Professor L Gee said:


> It's called "Washington Metro" because Washington's subway system is called the "Metro," not because the two cities belong to the same MSA (which they don't...). It's also the only rapid transit that Washington (currently) has.
> 
> Maybe in the future, once either the streetcar or the Purple Line opens, it can be merged with a new "Transit" thread... but right now it's fine as it is.


The other thread covers both , and both systems are slowly growing closer together...


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## Professor L Gee (Aug 10, 2009)

Nexis said:


> The other thread covers both , and both systems are slowly growing closer together...


Even though it's informative and all, I maintain that that thread should have been split into two.

Where do you keep seeing that MTA and Metro are going to merge together though by way of something other than MARC?


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## diablo234 (Aug 18, 2008)

Professor L Gee said:


> Even though it's informative and all, I maintain that that thread should have been split into two.
> 
> Where do you keep seeing that MTA and Metro are going to merge together though by way of something other than MARC?


The two systems are too far apart from each other for there to be any overlap other than MARC. Also in my opinion it would be more cost effective to run MARC trains on the Penn Line more frequently (similar to service on the LIRR) then to extend the Green Line all the way from Greenbelt to BWI.


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## Professor L Gee (Aug 10, 2009)

diablo234 said:


> The two systems are too far apart from each other for there to be any overlap other than MARC. Also in my opinion it would be more cost effective to run MARC trains on the Penn Line more frequently (similar to service on the LIRR) then to extend the Green Line all the way from Greenbelt to BWI.


Agreed on all points.


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## IanCleverly (Nov 24, 2010)




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## LAmarODom420 (Aug 14, 2007)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...5ee_story.html

Metro’s top managers are proposing a new rail tunnel under the center of the District, a second tunnel under the Potomac, and they estimate the transit agency will need $26 billion over the next three decades to pay for those and other improvements to an aging system that is falling behind the region’s needs.

The proposed new rail tunnels — one under 10th Street to Thomas Circle and another between Rosslyn and Georgetown and on to Thomas Circle — would be massive undertakings. The projects would require major financial commitments from local and federal governments and would take several years to plan and several more years to complete.

It is not the first time Metro has talked about such new tunnels, but in making them a central piece of the transit agency’s new strategic plan, Metro’s top managers are seeking to focus public attention on what the agency says is a long-term threat to the region’s economic growth.

The 49-page strategic plan is to be presented Thursday morning to Metro’s board of directors, which has yet to endorse the blueprint.

“If we don’t do something about what’s coming at us in terms of the region’s growth, we will have such a crowded system that it will create its own set of problems with regard to safety and infrastructure,” Richard Sarles, Metro’s general manager, said in an interview. “Now is the time for the region — with Metro in the lead — to begin talking about projects that make the most sense for making long-term investments.”

The continuing population growth in the District and its suburbs, especially among young people who choose not to own cars, has made Metro’s long-term capacity an existential issue for the transit system, one of the busiest in the nation.

Along with the proposed tunnels, Metro says it must spend billions of dollars to upgrade the rail system’s electrical grid to handle more eight-car trains and must add pedestrian corridors between transfer stations such as Metro Center and Gallery Place. Above ground, Metro needs to buy more buses, build more bus garages and create bus-only lanes on busy downtown streets.

Dubbed “Momentum,” and 18 months in the making, Metro’s new strategic plan catalogues the system’s needs and renews the long-standing argument for Metro to have a dedicated funding source, just as many big-city transit systems do.

Metro’s lack of capital investment in the past decade has been blamed on that lack of dedicated funding, and planners say that unless that changes, there is little hope of executing the ambitious strategic plan that will be formally unveiled Thursday.

A new Metro line is being built in Northern Virginia, but it is being constructed for Metro by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, with revenue from the Dulles Toll Road financing a significant part of the line’s $5.6 billion cost.

No such obvious source of financing exists for the new rail line and tunnels proposed in Metro’s new strategic plan, and the plan does not specify how the agency would finance the rail expansion and other costly improvements.

In Maryland and Virginia, the state governments have struggled for years to come up with ways to ensure long-term funding for transportation.

Unlike other transit agencies in New York, Boston and Los Angeles that depend on some level of dedicated funds from specific taxes, Metro receives contributions from the District, Maryland, Virginia and the federal government for its operating and capital budgets, which total $2.5 billion.

Shyam Kannan, Metro’s chief planner, said it will take a “reliable, sustained stream of capital funding from a combination of local and federal” moneys to pay for the slew of proposed projects.

Metro’s system, including Metrobus, ranks as the fourth-largest transit system and second-largest rail system by ridership in the country, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

In the past decade, Metro has seen its ridership grow, and despite recent drops in riders from weekend track work as it rebuilds the aging system, officials said they expect ridership to increase 40 percent to 1.05 million weekday rider trips on average by 2040 as the new Silver Line comes on line later this year and other transportation projects in the region are underway.

Metrorail, which carried its first passengers in 1976, is entering a new era.

It faces the costly challenge of upgrading an aging system that hasn’t been well maintained over the years. Escalators break down frequently. Switches, tracks and other equipment are being replaced to meet National Transportation Safety Board safety recommendations. New rail cars have been purchased to replace the rail cars from the 1970s that were involved in the deadliest crash on the system in 2009.

Sarles said the $1-billion-a-year capital-spending project he has been aggressively pushing in the two years he has been at the helm shows the system is “middle aged and getting a facelift.”

Transportation experts said it is key to have an efficient and reliable transit system.

“We’re seeing a sea change in how people move about,” said Michael Melaniphy, president and chief executive of the American Public Transportation Association. “We see cities competing against each other to attract new business, and those that have access to public transportation have an edge.”

In its strategic plan, Metro proposes to spend $6 billion on its rail and bus systems by 2025.

Planners said running all eight-car trains on its five rail lines would help trains carry at least 35,000 more passengers an hour during weekday rush hours. But to do that, Metro needs to spend $2 billion to increase its power system, add more space at rail yards to park trains, and buy more rail cars.

Busy stations such as Gallery Place, Metro Center, L’Enfant Plaza and Union Station need additional mezzanines, stairs, elevators and escalators. Metro plans to build new underground pedestrian tunnels between busy stops such as Metro Center and Gallery Place.

One of the biggest ideas in its plan is to try to relieve congestion through the Rosslyn tunnel where Metro is already at its maximum capacity of 26 trains per hour. Riders on the Blue Line have expressed frustration of getting fewer trains per hour to make way for the new Silver Line.

To help alleviate the problem, planners suggest creating what they call the “Rosslyn bypass.” New tracks would be built west of Rosslyn and near the Pentagon, allowing trains on the Orange Line to go south into Virginia on the Blue Line and east over the Yellow Line bridge.

New stations would also be added at Rosslyn and Pentagon.

Planners also want to spend $600 million for bus service improvements, including new buses, garages and bus-only lanes along busy streets in downtown, including H and I streets NW between 13th and 17th streets.

The transit agency calls for an additional $20 billion worth of projects to be done by 2040, including building two tunnels.

One north-south tunnel, costing $2.7 billion, would be built under 10th Street SW and NW to Thomas Circle and would allow Green and Yellow line trains to run in separate tunnels. That would take pressure off the tunnel that runs between L’Enfant Plaza and Gallery Place. Another $3.3 billion tunnel would run east-west through Rosslyn to Georgetown and along M Street NW to Thomas Circle.

Zachary M. Schrag, author of a book on how Metro got built, said the rail system is pushing close to the 1 million riders a day it was designed to handle.

“It’s pretty much maxed out on the original design,” he said. “It is up to the next generation to plant the olive tree.”


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## LAmarODom420 (Aug 14, 2007)




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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Manitopiaaa said:


> This is a stupid question but is Phase 2 of the Silver Line U/C right now?


Yes , due for completion in 2018


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## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:



> http://www.railjournal.com/index.ph...n-metro-trains-enter-service.html?channel=535
> 
> *New Washington metro trains enter service*
> Tuesday, April 14, 2015
> ...


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

*Newer 7000 Series Metro Trains debuted...Earlier this Morning*


> First7000Series 010 by tracktwentynine, on Flickr
> 
> 
> First7000Series 021 by tracktwentynine, on Flickr
> ...


More Photos at tracktwentynine


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## BoulderGrad (Jun 29, 2005)

^^Only wish is that they would use free pass thrus you get on most trains in Asia. But still lovely cars none the less.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

*Pedestrian bridge falls on Greenbelt Metro/MARC tracks*

http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/maryland/2015/04/15/pedestrian-bridge-collapse-green-belt-metro/25829707/


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## 00Zy99 (Mar 4, 2013)

What is WITH all of this falling concrete lately?

Seriously. How weak do you have to be for something like this to cause a collapse?

At least this one wasn't fatal, unlike the one in Oregon this morning.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

00Zy99 said:


> What is WITH all of this falling concrete lately?
> 
> Seriously. How weak do you have to be for something like this to cause a collapse?
> 
> At least this one wasn't fatal, unlike the one in Oregon this morning.


Most likely cutting corners...hno:


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## 00Zy99 (Mar 4, 2013)

Nexis said:


> Most likely cutting corners...hno:


Judging by that horrendous Brutalist architecture, back in the '70s or early '80s when the Metro line was built.


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## diablo234 (Aug 18, 2008)

If you guys would have bothered to click on the link, the news report mentioned that a crane that was laying test track struck the bridge causing the structure to fail since the bridge probably was not designed to withstand that type of impact. I doubt that particular incident was related to any error on part of either the civil engineer or contractors who designed/built that pedestrian bridge.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

diablo234 said:


> If you guys would have bothered to click on the link, the news report mentioned that a crane that was laying test track struck the bridge causing the structure to fail since the bridge probably was not designed to withstand that type of impact. I doubt that particular incident was related to any error on part of either the civil engineer or contractors who designed/built that pedestrian bridge.


The bridge looked like it couldn't take much to begin with...probably slapped together for a low cost...


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)




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## diablo234 (Aug 18, 2008)

Nexis said:


> The bridge looked like it couldn't take much to begin with...probably slapped together for a low cost...


There isn't a bridge on this planet that is designed to take that much impact from being hit directly by heavy machinery such as a crane. Anyways if you are going to blame somebody it should be the crane operator since his/her negligence caused the incident in the first place.


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## 00Zy99 (Mar 4, 2013)

diablo234 said:


> If you guys would have bothered to click on the link, the news report mentioned that a crane that was laying test track struck the bridge causing the structure to fail since the bridge probably was not designed to withstand that type of impact. I doubt that particular incident was related to any error on part of either the civil engineer or contractors who designed/built that pedestrian bridge.


You mean in the movie? That wasn't working when I clicked earlier.



diablo234 said:


> There isn't a bridge on this planet that is designed to take that much impact from being hit directly by heavy machinery such as a crane. Anyways if you are going to blame somebody it should be the crane operator since his/her negligence caused the incident in the first place.


Considering that I've personally seen a bridge survive multiple such hits over a period of several years, and can recall several instances of cranes falling over onto bridges, I'd say that something was wrong with the Berwyn Road Bridge. It doesn't look particularly sturdy (though I'm sure that that's an illusion caused by the damage). 

Considering that the movie (which wasn't working earlier) said that the crane operator had 30 years of experience, I'm not sure that's the case. Its possible that the crane malfunctioned. Its possible that the ground settled suddenly. Its possible that he/she had a sudden spasm.

Anyway. Hopefully, it will be cleared soon, and hopefully the bridge will be rebuilt (better looking).


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## sitruc (May 1, 2007)

diablo234 said:


> There isn't a bridge on this planet that is designed to take that much impact from being hit directly by heavy machinery such as a crane. Anyways if you are going to blame somebody it should be the crane operator since his/her negligence caused the incident in the first place.


Also, what sense would it make to build a pedestrian bridge to the same requirements as one for motor vehicles?


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## diablo234 (Aug 18, 2008)

00Zy99 said:


> You mean in the movie? That wasn't working when I clicked earlier.
> 
> 
> 
> ...





sitruc said:


> Also, what sense would it make to build a pedestrian bridge to the same requirements as one for motor vehicles?


Well pedestrian bridges are not exactly built to the same standards as roadway bridges (since the latter obviously is much large in width and requires more materials) so it is sort of disingenuous to compare the two but bridge trusses in general are not designed to take impact from heavy machinery such as cranes. Even if the bridge does not collapse (as 00Zy99 mentioned in his/her personal experience) the integrity of the structure can still be severely compromised if a large piece of heavy equipment hits a bridge truss which would require a replacement.


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## MrAronymous (Aug 7, 2011)

Nexis said:


> video


Is it that hard to just pay someone to read the lines, instead of using a computer voice? It's hideous.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

MrAronymous said:


> Is it that hard to just pay someone to read the lines, instead of using a computer voice? It's hideous.


Its for Disabled people.....its part of the ADA rules..


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## MrAronymous (Aug 7, 2011)

According to ADA rules announcers have to sound like robots now?


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## 00Zy99 (Mar 4, 2013)

MrAronymous said:


> According to ADA rules announcers have to sound like robots now?


They have to be legible and comprehensible.

There have been many times where I've been on a train and the conductor's announcements were incomprehensible. This is a big improvement.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

MrAronymous said:


> According to ADA rules announcers have to sound like robots now?


Thats Just cutting corners...


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## CNB30 (Jun 4, 2012)

Because this is America where we fetishize our cars and ignore, or poorly build our public transit infrastructure, while blowing money on highways instead.


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## southwestforests (Dec 24, 2009)

CNB30 said:


> Because this is America where we fetishize our cars and ignore, or poorly build our public transit infrastructure, while blowing money on highways instead.


 I'm pretty sure that's documentable - there are multiple books related to the issue. 

And even though I'm a railroad fan, and a railroad modeler, I'm going to toss in this thought: the auto industry, and the industry and infrastructure to support the beast, uh, I mean, machine, likely creates a rather higher number of jobs than the rail industry does. 
And then I'm going to ask this: are the beast and those jobs worth to society their price to society?

And then I look at the first post on this thread - from 11 years ago - and I think that saying, _"the only constant is change"_, could have the companion, "the only other constant is human nature".


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## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

Happy 40th birthday to the Washington Metro

http://wtop.com/sprawl-crawl/2016/03/metro-turns-40-trying-dig-hole/slide/1/

:drunk: :dance:


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## Suburbanist (Dec 25, 2009)

One can't keep deferring maintenance and then saying "we just figured out a massive problem that needs to be fixed in a very disruptive manner right now" later on.


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## mrsmartman (Mar 16, 2015)

This is the cleanest metro in East Coast.


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## Fan Railer (Dec 1, 2010)

To be clean is one thing; to be operated and managed well is another.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Fan Railer said:


> To be clean is one thing; to be operated and managed well is another.


Its without a doubt the most dysfunctional Metro on the East Coast.


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## MrAronymous (Aug 7, 2011)

Is it? From reading stuff online it seems Boston could be as well.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

MrAronymous said:


> Is it? From reading stuff online it seems Boston could be as well.


Boston is only slightly better due to its larger size and not every line experiences serious problems... Only the Orange & Red lines...


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## Fan Railer (Dec 1, 2010)

The fact that the FRA had to step in tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about WMATA management.


----------



## mrsmartman (Mar 16, 2015)

Is Washington the most bureaucratic city in America?


----------



## Fan Railer (Dec 1, 2010)

LMAO you're talking about the capital of the United Sates.... what do YOU think?


----------



## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

mrsmartman said:


> Is Washington the most bureaucratic city in America?


Sometimes you make really wonder...:lol::nuts:


----------



## 437.001 (Mar 27, 2009)

mrsmartman said:


> Is Washington the most bureaucratic city in America?


No? :troll:


----------



## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

*4th Quarter Daily Public Transit Ridership for DC Metro *

Washington DC / WMATA DC Metro - 836,800 (2015) : -7.08%


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

*Birthday wishes*

Happy 25th birthday to the Mount Vernon Square, Shaw-Howard University and U Street stations. All three opened 1991.05.11.


----------



## SirSpitfire (Dec 8, 2014)

I've used Washington Metro for the 1st time this weekend.. Very clean, cool architecture but I've never understood once the train operator (english is not my first language but still it was never comprehensible..) 
I've also waited more than 15minutes near Washington Monument in the middle of a saturday.. Really surprised, is it normal ?


----------



## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Weekend train service is less , so its not really all that uncommon to wait more then 15mins...


----------



## Dan78 (Nov 17, 2009)

SirSpitfire said:


> I've used Washington Metro for the 1st time this weekend.. Very clean, cool architecture but I've never understood once the train operator (english is not my first language but still it was never comprehensible..)
> I've also waited more than 15minutes near Washington Monument in the middle of a saturday.. Really surprised, is it normal ?


15-minute headways are considered the norm for weekends. Or rather, they were before Metro started having major issues about 10 years ago. Now, 20 minutes is more the norm for weekends.

The train operators vary greatly in their announcement style. Most are pretty bad at annunciating, in my opinion. Wish they'd go to recorded station announcements (like what I experienced in Japan) at least.


----------



## Dan78 (Nov 17, 2009)

mrsmartman said:


> Is Washington the most bureaucratic city in America?


Not really... well, it *is* bureaucratic, but not any more than most other large US cities (even though a large of bureaucracy is handled here, I don't think it makes it the most bureaucratic). If anything NYC, LA, and Boston seem more bureaucratic.

Metro's problems more directly relate to its governing agency and its dysfunctional culture (and no dedicated funding) than they do to Washington being bureaucratic in general.


----------



## mrsmartman (Mar 16, 2015)

Washington has the grandest bureaucratic architecture in America.


----------



## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)




----------



## Dan78 (Nov 17, 2009)

*Metros by the numbers: How D.C. stacks up against other capital cities*

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/06/06/metros-by-the-numbers-how-d-c-stacks-up-against-other-capital-cities/

Interesting but somewhat flawed comparison of the DC Metro with other national capital subway systems.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

*Birthday wishes*

The Orange Line was completed 30 years ago today (1986.06.07) when it was extended from Ballston to Vienna.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

Construction on phase 2 of Washington Metro Silver Line (which will connect to Dulles airport) is now 32% complete

https://twitter.com/fairfaxcounty/status/788833428854697984


----------



## browntown (Jul 28, 2015)

Woonsocket54 said:


> Construction on phase 2 of Washington Metro Silver Line (which will connect to Dulles airport) is now 32% complete
> 
> https://twitter.com/fairfaxcounty/status/788833428854697984


Only 32%? I thought it would be nearly done by now given how long it's been since this started. I hate being an infrastructure buff and having to live in the US where infrastructure construction proceeds at such a snails pace.


----------



## 00Zy99 (Mar 4, 2013)

They have working hour restrictions due to the highway, the airport, and residents. There was also some difficult soil, if I recall correctly.


----------



## Dan78 (Nov 17, 2009)

00Zy99 said:


> They have working hour restrictions due to the highway, the airport, and residents. There was also some difficult soil, if I recall correctly.


True, but these projects are nearly *always* so slow in the US, with or without the aforementioned difficulties.


----------



## TM_Germany (Nov 7, 2015)

If one of your 'locations' is truly Berlin, you must know that infrastructure construction is massively faster in the U.S. than e.g. in Germany. In the developed countries, metro construction is often quite slow.


----------



## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

What makes you say that? I don't think infrastructure construction is faster here than anywhere else in the developed world.


----------



## TM_Germany (Nov 7, 2015)

Have you heard of U5/55? Or the glorious disaster of the Berlin airport? Highway construction in Germany often takes as many years as the segment is long in kilometres.
It's not always that way, as subway contruction in cities like Munich or generally in countries like Spain (where infrastructure construction is generally really quick) proceeds much faster.
I just wanted to point out that the U.S. certainly isn't the only (or worst) country in terms of infrastructure construction. Highways get built astonishingly fast (for me, anyways) in states like Texas and I'm quite impressed by the pace the Los Angeles Metro is expanding for example.
I guess my point is that construction in the U.S. isn't all that slow compared to other countries and in some places actually very fast. However I do see a big discrepancy in construction pace between the northeast and the south.


----------



## browntown (Jul 28, 2015)

TM_Germany said:


> However I do see a big discrepancy in construction pace between the northeast and the south.


Comparing the prices of new roads in Texas to the NorthEast is incredibly eye-popping. Obviously there are some real reasons for the NorthEast to be more expensive, but being 10 TIMES as expensive is just depressing.


----------



## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

TM_Germany said:


> Have you heard of U5/55? Or the glorious disaster of the Berlin airport? Highway construction in Germany often takes as many years as the segment is long in kilometres.
> It's not always that way, as subway contruction in cities like Munich or generally in countries like Spain (where infrastructure construction is generally really quick) proceeds much faster.
> I just wanted to point out that the U.S. certainly isn't the only (or worst) country in terms of infrastructure construction. Highways get built astonishingly fast (for me, anyways) in states like Texas and I'm quite impressed by the pace the Los Angeles Metro is expanding for example.
> I guess my point is that construction in the U.S. isn't all that slow compared to other countries and in some places actually very fast. However I do see a big discrepancy in construction pace between the northeast and the south.


BER is a mess, but it took 6 years to construct it.


----------



## Balkanada (Nov 6, 2010)

Anything in Berlin isn't a fair example of Germany's disastrous infrastructural projects. The city has been highly problematic since WWII and all of the brightest minds moved elsewhere


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Alexandria gets federal clearance to build Potomac Yard Metro station*"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...learance-to-build-potomac-yard-metro-station/


----------



## jam5 (May 30, 2007)

Woonsocket54 said:


> Construction on phase 2 of Washington Metro Silver Line (which will connect to Dulles airport) is now 32% complete
> 
> https://twitter.com/fairfaxcounty/status/788833428854697984


The completion date is 2019 or 2020, isn't it?


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Metro can’t keep up with delivery of new rail cars*"

http://wtop.com/sprawl-crawl/2016/11/many-new-metro-cars-coming-metro-may-need-slow/


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Metro to discontinue use of 4000-series railcars in lead positions after safety concern identified*"

http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/news/PressReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=6190


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Metro to Propose Closing at 11:30 PM on Weeknights and 1 AM on Fridays and Saturdays*"

https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/11/28/metro-proposes-early-closing-hours/


----------



## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

⁴ᴷ Washington Metro Action


----------



## Manitopiaaa (Mar 6, 2006)

Woonsocket54 said:


> "*Metro to Propose Closing at 11:30 PM on Weeknights and 1 AM on Fridays and Saturdays*"
> 
> https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/11/28/metro-proposes-early-closing-hours/


Incredibly frustrating. This world-class city, with a GDP per capita of $170,000, can't afford metro past 11:30pm? What is wrong with WMATA?


----------



## jay stew (Nov 5, 2009)

Manitopiaaa said:


> Incredibly frustrating. This world-class city, with a GDP per capita of $170,000, can't afford metro past 11:30pm? What is wrong with WMATA?


Years of deferred maintenance will do that. See the New York subway in the 70s.


----------



## jam5 (May 30, 2007)

Manitopiaaa said:


> Incredibly frustrating. This world-class city, with a GDP per capita of $170,000, can't afford metro past 11:30pm? What is wrong with WMATA?


Won't be so bad assuming they provide adequate bus service for those late hours.


----------



## Dan78 (Nov 17, 2009)

jam5 said:


> Won't be so bad assuming they provide adequate bus service for those late hours.


That's a pretty big assumption, and I doubt if it actually happen. 

WMATA is retreating a bit to Washington Metro's original purpose as a weekday, commuter-focused, suburban rail-subway hybrid system rather than trying to take it to the next level and offer service more in the vein of say, New York. It may just be the reality of their situation.


----------



## Natorious (Aug 13, 2016)

jay stew said:


> Years of deferred maintenance will do that. See the New York subway in the 70s.


Isn't it then a better idea to close certain parts of the network entirely for a longer period of time so the maintenance can be more efficient? A longer period could as well be for example from Friday evening until Monday morning.


----------



## MrAronymous (Aug 7, 2011)

You're assuming these maintenance issues aren't serious and aren't spread out across the network. They can't just focus on one area first and let the other area get dangerous.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Metro ridership tops 1 million, sets Saturday record*"

http://wtop.com/dc/2017/01/1m-trips-taken-on-dc-city-rail-system-saturday/



> Metro officials said Saturday was the busiest in Metro’s history. The transit agency tweeted Sunday that 1,001,616 trips were taken on the rail system on Saturday, the day of the Women’s March on Washington.
> 
> Metro spokesman Dan Stessel had said that on Friday, the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration, just over 570,000 trips were taken on the rail system.
> 
> Saturday’s ridership number topped the previous Saturday ridership record set in 2010 on the day of the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear hosted by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. More than 825,000 trips were taken that day.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

Kevin Spacey, the president from "House of Cards"










more photos here: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/05/house-of-cards-photos-pete-souza


----------



## Jericho-79 (May 21, 2009)

Is the Silver Line extension to Dulles coming along fine?

Once per year I visit the DC area and find out that there's still no Metro stop at Dulles.


----------



## jam5 (May 30, 2007)

Jericho-79 said:


> Is the Silver Line extension to Dulles coming along fine?
> 
> Once per year I visit the DC area and find out that there's still no Metro stop at Dulles.


The second (and final) phase of the Silver Line construction is more than half-way done (nearly 60% when I last checked), and is due for completion either towards the end of 2019, or early 2020. 


http://www.dullesmetro.com/


----------



## CxIxMaN (Jun 12, 2009)

Woonsocket54 said:


> Kevin Spacey, the president from "House of Cards"
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I want to visit the station where he pushed that girl


----------



## jam5 (May 30, 2007)

CxIxMaN said:


> I want to visit the station where he pushed that girl


That scene was shot in Baltimore.


----------



## jay stew (Nov 5, 2009)

jam5 said:


> That scene was shot in Baltimore.


Charles Center station, which stood in for Cathedral Heights.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

*End of an era*

https://www.wmata.com/about/news/1000-4000-series-railcars-retired-July1.cfm



> For immediate release: June 7, 2017
> 
> *Metro to retire all 1000- and 4000-series railcars by July 1, months ahead of schedule*
> 
> ...


----------



## BoulderGrad (Jun 29, 2005)

jam5 said:


> That scene was shot in Baltimore.


Kinda frustrating when movies do that. The DC metro is so unique both in station form and rail car types that its obvious when they try to slap "DC" on another city's bland metro.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

At least no one died this time LOL.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...stigate-track-problem/?utm_term=.33cb3dfc97e0

Third-world metro for a second-rate capital city.


----------



## Sameboat (Jan 2, 2013)

RIP Yellow Line Rush Plus


----------



## Tom 958 (Apr 24, 2007)

*What Washington Metro Should Build,** by Alon Levy.* tl;dr: Increase capacity on the Orange-Silver lines by truncating the Blue line at Rosslyn and requiring riders to transfer; relocate the Yellow Line to eliminate the overlap with the Green Line _and_ further truncating the Blue Line at Pentagon, and... OK, look at the map. Interesting, and a lot cheaper than the $26 billion scheme that the planners came up with.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*All of Metro’s new 7000 Series rail cars need wiring replaced*"

https://wtop.com/tracking-metro-24-...w-7000-series-rail-cars-need-wiring-replaced/


----------



## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Do you guys think Metro service will go back to normal one day?


----------



## Anday (Mar 26, 2015)

*Fly by, and through, the planned Potomac Yard Metro station with these new videos (Video)*













> If you’re struggling to picture the $370 million Potomac Yard Metro station as it will look when it starts passenger service, likely in early 2022, have no fear — there’s now video for that.


----------



## Stuu (Feb 7, 2007)

Anday said:


> *Fly by, and through, the planned Potomac Yard Metro station with these new videos (Video)*


How does a two platform, above ground station in an open area of land cost $370m? Is it built of platinum?


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

*"A peek at Metro stations under construction along Silver Line’s Phase 2"*

https://www.fairfaxcountyeda.org/me...ions-under-construction-silver-lines-phase-2/









Looking east at the south side of the Dulles Airport Station with Saarinen Circle in the front of the photo. The glass wall at the base of the station is part of the mezzanine, which will offer views of the main terminal. (Photos courtesy Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project)









A train passes through Dulles Airport Station as part of dynamic testing along the aerial guideway. Saarinen Circle is in the foreground. Soon a glass screenwall will be installed along this side of the station. The screen will serve as a buffer to winds atop the station platform, and it also will mirror the architectural features of the iconic Dulles Airport Terminal.









An inside view of the Dulles Airport Station. In the center is one of four elevator shafts. Through the glass windows on the right is the adjacent parking garage. A tunnel connects the garage and the main terminal.









The north side of Innovation Center Station and the north pedestrian bridge along the Dulles Toll Road and the Dulles International Airport Access Highway.









Looking south to the parking garage at the Innovation Center Station. The garage, which was designed by Fairfax County and will be operated by the county, will hold about 2,100 vehicles on the south side of the station.









Facing east along the bus bay drive at the Herndon Station. The South Pavilion is on the left with the existing and new parking garages to the right. Together the garages that will be operated by Fairfax County will hold about 3,700 vehicles.









The South Pavilion at the Reston Town Center Station.









Silver Line tracks rise after the Innovation Center Station and curve toward the Dulles Airport Station. From the airport the trains head out to two Loudoun County stations along the Dulles Greenway as well as a rail yard and maintenance facility.


----------



## MrAronymous (Aug 7, 2011)

The Dulles station looks very very modern and first world. Unlike anything else in the country. Good job.


----------



## zg5 (Aug 25, 2019)

I've heard from a friend, that there are some issues with the new extention to theairport. 
He says, the line is actually ready but there is no agreement between authorities to use this line, is that true?


----------



## diz (Nov 1, 2005)

MrAronymous said:


> The Dulles station looks very very modern and first world. Unlike anything else in the country. Good job.


I was gonna say the same thing. Meanwhile, the feds deprive the rest of us of first world transit.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Metro’s IG finds new problems with Silver Line construction*"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...e9-87fa-8501a456c003_story.html?noredirect=on



> In management alerts issued Friday, Metro Inspector General Geoffrey A. Cherrington said a sealant being applied to prevent water from seeping into hundreds of defective concrete panels may not be working. A sampling of sealant already in place found it was not working in all cases, leaving some panels vulnerable to cracking. Unless the panels are replaced or the contractor comes up with another solution, Metro should not accept the work, he advised.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

*"‘Serious Issues’ Need To Be Addressed On Silver Line Before Opening, Says Metro General Manager"*

https://dcist.com/story/19/09/13/se...ne-before-opening-says-metro-general-manager/


----------



## luacstjh98 (Sep 9, 2014)

You'd presume that the operating jurisdiction gets more of an oversight role.

Aren't there delays at BART to Berryessa too?


----------



## BillyF (Nov 16, 2019)




----------



## Dan78 (Nov 17, 2009)

*Metro shows six “fantasy maps” for the Blue and Silver lines*

https://ggwash.org/view/75003/metro-shows-six-fantasy-maps-for-the-blue-and-silver-lines

“...Metro has embarked on a study of potential options to deal with this. Now, they have some ideas for riders to weigh in on. These range from fairly modest to pretty ambitious. The agency would like rider input and will start narrowing down the ideas to come up with an actual recommendation for what to do about its Blue/Orange/Silver bottleneck problem.”


----------



## FDW (Mar 9, 2010)

Dan78 said:


> *Metro shows six “fantasy maps” for the Blue and Silver lines*
> 
> https://ggwash.org/view/75003/metro-shows-six-fantasy-maps-for-the-blue-and-silver-lines
> 
> “...Metro has embarked on a study of potential options to deal with this. Now, they have some ideas for riders to weigh in on. These range from fairly modest to pretty ambitious. The agency would like rider input and will start narrowing down the ideas to come up with an actual recommendation for what to do about its Blue/Orange/Silver bottleneck problem.”


Doing both Options 3 and 6 seem to be the best solution. You can eliminate almost all of the interlining, and all of the Reverse branching with those two together.


----------



## luacstjh98 (Sep 9, 2014)

Given capital constraints just Option 3 alone would be the best bet.

If there's a desire to serve the southeast area the line can simply turn south after Union Station.


----------



## BillyF (Nov 16, 2019)




----------



## BillyF (Nov 16, 2019)




----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Alexandria and Metro breaking ground for Potomac Yard Metro*"

https://wtop.com/tracking-metro-24-7/2019/12/finally-groundbreaking-for-potomac-yard-metro/

This will be an infill station on a stretch of existing track. It will open in spring 2022.


----------



## BillyF (Nov 16, 2019)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAWEX-fKtmWreeNaJLj38AQTxezjASi3P


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*New developments on the Silver Line timeline: What to know*"

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2019/12/new-developments-on-the-silver-line-timeline-what-to-know/


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

*"Metrorail ridership grew by 20,000 trips per weekday in 2019"*

https://www.wmata.com/about/news/2019-Metrorail-ridership.cfm#main-content


average weekday ridership - 626,000 (up 3.3% year-over-year)
average Saturday ridership - 264,000 (up 9.4% year-over-year)
average Sunday ridership - 168,000 (up 6.5% year-over-year)



> *2019 Metrorail by the Numbers*:
> 
> *Total trips*: 182 million
> 
> ...


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

"*Metro GM: Silver Line likely delayed until mid-2021*"

https://wtop.com/tracking-metro-24-...for-silver-line-launch-is-now-well-into-2021/


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

current map of Washington metro - nineteen out of a total of ninety-one stations have closed:















Metro to close additional 17 stations and selected entrances amid low-ridership, need to conserve critical cleaning supplies during COVID-19 response | WMATA







www.wmata.com





ridership statistics:















Covid-19 Public Information | WMATA







www.wmata.com





service:

*Monday, March 30 – Friday, April 3, 2020*
Metrorail 

Open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Trains every 15 minutes on Red Line, every 20 minutes on all others
19 stations are closed until further notice. Trains will pass these stations without stopping; no alternate service. 
Also, first and last cars of every train will be closed for purposes of employee safety.






Metro implements additional protection for frontline employees: Will close first and last cars of all trains starting tomorrow | WMATA







www.wmata.com


----------



## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)

From Rail Journal:









Washington Metro selects preferred bidder for new metro cars


Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has selected Hitachi Rail as the preferred bidder for a contract potentially worth $US 1bn for up to 800 metro cars.




www.railjournal.com


----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

* 12 passengers evacuated after Metro train separates while in service on Red Line *
Washington Post _Excerpt_
Nov 25, 2020

Rail cars on a Metro train separated in a Red Line tunnel Tuesday, the second time in less than two months that cars on a moving train have detached. It prompted the transit agency to remove nearly 180 cars from service.

The rail cars came apart about 1 p.m. while the train was in a tunnel between the Wheaton and Glenmont stations in Montgomery County. Emergency responders evacuated 12 passengers who stayed on the train for several minutes until help arrived, Metro officials said.

Montgomery County Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer said no one was injured.

Train service was suspended for hours between the Glenmont and Forest Glen stations while Metro shuttle buses took passengers between the closed stations.

Metro officials said the train operator reported mechanical trouble shortly after it left Glenmont. When the cars separated, an automatic emergency brake engaged and stopped the cars. 

More : https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2020/11/24/metro-red-line-separates/


----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

* Metro could still head toward 'service cliff,' more layoffs next year without more federal aid *
Washington Business Journal _Excerpt_ 
Jan 14, 2021

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is again planning some deep service and job cuts next year unless the federal government steps up and gives a third round of financial support.

For now, bus and rail service and employment status for thousands of WMATA employees will remain unchanged for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, according to a Metro board vote Thursday, the fourth time it moved to revise the fiscal 2021 budget. That vote also keeps the service and workforce largely the same through the first six months of fiscal 2022, lasting through the remainder of this calendar year — all possible because of the potential $718 million in federal funding Metro estimates it could receive as part of the stimulus bill that passed in the final days of 2020. That followed $876.8 million that the area's dominant transit agency received from the first stimulus bill, the CARES Act, passed last March.

But even the latest round of funding only postpones the deep cuts originally expected this year to Jan. 2, 2022, Metro officials said. The system said it's working with congressional lawmakers to loosen up more federal funds with a third relief bill, said Paul Wiedefeld, general manager and CEO of WMATA.

More : https://www.bizjournals.com/washing...rvice-cuts-layoffs-need-more-federal-aid.html


----------



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

* Officials push for Silver Line extension opening in July * 
Washington Business Journal _Excerpt_
Jan 26, 2021

Metro could be looking at some big cuts if the federal government doesn’t bring another round of transit-related stimulus, but the 11.5-mile extension of the Silver Line shouldn't be stalled, several transit leaders said during a Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting Monday.

Delaying the extension further would hurt the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and the regional post-Covid-19 recovery more than it would help, said Matt Letourneau, a Metro board member and member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, where three of the six new stations are located.

“If we are trying to recover — if we want to be part of that recovery — we know the highest growth part of the system is the Silver Line. It is the Dulles corridor,” he said during the virtual meeting. “We have employers who have moved in and are banking on Metro. Fairfax and Loudoun have made years of land-use decisions based on this.”

More : https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/01/26/silver-line-opening.html


----------



## dimlys1994 (Dec 19, 2010)




----------



## GojiMet86 (Jan 3, 2016)

WMATA has awarded the 8000-series contract to Hitachi:






Metro announces contract award to Hitachi Rail for 8000-series railcars | WMATA







www.wmata.com


----------



## Balkanmiddleeastern (Dec 12, 2020)

No transitions between the cars .. It's standard all over the world, but America is doing its own thing again


----------



## GojiMet86 (Jan 3, 2016)

Balkanmiddleeastern said:


> No transitions between the cars .. It's standard all over the world, but America is doing its own thing again


The WMATA shops in the yards are set up for married pairs (2 cars), so 4 car open-gangway sets would not be ideal, but 2 car ones would. WMATA cars are 75 feet long. In fact, Atlanta's MARTA will have open gangway pairs and each car is also 75 feet long.


----------



## Soriehlam (May 30, 2015)

Balkanmiddleeastern said:


> No transitions between the cars .. It's standard all over the world, but America is doing its own thing again


Their country, their rules.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

update on metro extension to Dulles airport









Silver Line Phase 2 will open no earlier than February 2022, MWAA says


Silver Line Phase 2 remains on track to open in the first quarter of 2022, the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority says. In an update on the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project issued on Monday (May 17), the agency says it is "confident" that construction will be finished "around Labor Day,"




www.restonnow.com


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

Status of construction of new "Potomac Yard" metro station in Alexandria, Virginia


















Photos: More than half of the Potomac Yard Metro Station is complete | ALXnow


Photos have been released on the latest construction update for the Potomac Yard Metro station, which the contractor says is 55% complete. City Council will receive an update on the next Tuesday, May 25. The update will include efforts to mitigate wetlands impacts. The station is scheduled to...




www.alxnow.com


----------



## Stuu (Feb 7, 2007)

Woonsocket54 said:


> Status of construction of new "Potomac Yard" metro station in Alexandria, Virginia
> 
> View attachment 1558951
> 
> ...


So that's what $170m worth of infrastructure looks like?


----------



## prageethSL (May 5, 2013)




----------



## prageethSL (May 5, 2013)

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1408491259224862720


----------



## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/07/06/silver-line-metro-virginia-delay/


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

Not only is the Silver Line opening delayed, but the Potomac Yard infill station in Alexandria is also delayed, until late 2022.









Potomac Yard Metro Station Opening Delayed


A problem with a safety design will push the opening to late 2022.




alexandrialivingmagazine.com





And of course the Purple Line LRT in Maryland is stop-and-go; most construction sites are abandoned eyesores.

Everything is delayed or on hold in the capital region.


----------



## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

increase in metro service on 2021.09.05









Metro will expand service and reduce fares starting Sunday - WTOP News


Starting on Sunday, Metro will be adding more trains and buses, extending train service on the weekends and lowering fares.




wtop.com


----------



## prageethSL (May 5, 2013)

__
http://instagr.am/p/CS98KIaHX71/


----------



## 437.001 (Mar 27, 2009)

prageethSL said:


>


Before watching the video, I thought "it looks like Sao Paulo". 
But after watching the video, it actually doesn't.


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## prageethSL (May 5, 2013)

*New renderings illustrate Metro's 8000 series rail cars, expected in 2024*

















In March, Metro announced it had selected Hitachi Rail Washington LLC to build the system’s 8000-series railcars.

The contract, valued at around $2.2 billion, represents an order of 256 cars, which are expected to start being delivered in 2024. The contract includes an option to increase the order to 800 cars.

The first vehicles are expected to be delivered from Italy, where Hitachi Rail STS is based, but Hitachi says it is planning to build an assembly plant in the D.C. area that will employ about 400 workers when fully staffed.

This week, Hitachi provided a first look at the next generation of Metro cars, which will replace 2000- and 3000-series cars that have been in service since the early 1980s.


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## Anday (Mar 26, 2015)

*Streamlined Metro Proposals Could Result in New Stations in Georgetown and Union Market*

*















*


















*Metro’s preferred expansion option would create second Potomac River tunnel, add Georgetown station*

*



Metro board members Thursday will discuss the results of a two-year study they commissioned before the pandemic

Click to expand...

*


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## Woonsocket54 (May 7, 2005)

They're still looking for a new contractor to finish the Purple Line LRT in Maryland.









Search for new Purple Line contractor expected to take until December - Trains


HANOVER, Md. — Selection of a new contractor for Maryland’s much-delayed Purple Line light rail project is likely to occur in December, with a contract finalized by February — about five months later than had previously been projected. The Washington Post reports groups bidding to replace the...




www.trains.com


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## lawdefender (Aug 25, 2013)

*Washington subway system ordered to suspend some rail car use*
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) was ordered to not use nearly 60% of its rail fleet Monday after a safety probe found defects similar to an issue in a recent derailment.

The subway system that services Washington, D.C. and parts of Maryland and Virginia said without those rail cars, it will "operate about 40 trains tomorrow – offering a basic service pattern on all lines of trains departing about every 30 minutes."

That schedule could result in some significant delays for rush-hour commuters. Washington schools told students in a tweet to prepare for major delays to and from school on Monday.









Washington subway system ordered to suspend some rail car use


The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) was ordered to not use nearly 60% of its rail fleet Monday after a safety probe found defects similar to an issue in a recent derailment.




www.reuters.com


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## GojiMet86 (Jan 3, 2016)

It doesn't help that on top of having troubles with the rolling stock itself, Washington also has a very poor record of maintenance and safety. Nothing as big as Metro has a similar record. I've heard from people that Metro has a remarkably stubborn department that refuses to change.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

* Metro says derailment risk found in other model of rail car is ‘outlier’ *
Washington Post _Excerpt_
Dec 7, 2021

A defect of wheels and axles that has prompted the suspension of about 60 percent of Metro’s rail cars since mid-October was found this year in another model of rail car, a watchdog agency said Tuesday.

Washington Metrorail Safety Commission chief executive David Mayer told commissioners a wheelset widening problem that has increased the derailment risk in Metro’s latest model of rail car was found in a 6000-series rail car. The discovery is the first publicly known instance of the troublesome and rare malfunction found outside of the 7000 series.

Metro officials said the widened wheelset on the 6000-series car was found in January and is unrelated to the defect under investigation in the 7000 series.

More : https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/07/metro-ntsb-rail-car-defect/


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

* Purple Line project delayed 4.5 years, $1.4B over budget, new report says *
_Excerpt_
Jan 14, 2022 

RIVERDALE, Md. (7News) — Troubles continue for Maryland's Purple Line as 7News is learning that the Metro project that would connect Montgomery and Prince George's County with a Light Rail line is being delayed another four years. It's also $1.4 billion dollars over budget.

Gail Peterson, an optometrist in Riverdale, says she was first surveyed about support for the Purple Line in 2006. At the time she said ‘yes’ she’d like mass transit in front of her business.

More : Purple Line project delayed 4.5 years, $1.4B over budget, new report says


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)




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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

DC: Day Two #35 by Keith Michael, on Flickr

DC: Day Two #27 by Keith Michael, on Flickr

DC: Day Two #31 by Keith Michael, on Flickr


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Phase 2 of Metro’s Silver Line delayed again - WTOP News


The long-delayed opening of Metro’s Silver Line extension to Dulles International Airport and beyond has been pushed back again.




wtop.com


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## prageethSL (May 5, 2013)

__
http://instagr.am/p/CbZ96UnDdwx/


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/fairfax_county/silver-line-delayed-again/article_543ce85a-b6aa-11ec-8fee-3b0d14976cec.html


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

D.C. Metro by Dan Gaken, on Flickr


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Alexandria facing another Metro shutdown, this time without DASH filling the gap | ALXnow


The City of Alexandria could be turning to state funding to try to mitigate the impacts of a pair of upcoming Metro closures. At the same time, city staff wrote in a memo that it's increasingly apparent the city's DASH bus network doesn't have the manpower to support additional bus routes making...




www.alxnow.com


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

* D.C. Metro releases 7000-series train cars after seven months off * 
The Washington Times _Excerpt_
June 16, 2022 

Eight of the previously recalled 7000-series Metro train cars were back on D.C. Metro tracks Thursday, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 

The decision to return the 7000-series trains to regular service comes after a federal investigation into a Metro train derailment near Arlington National Cemetery in October 2021 found a wheel defect in some of the trains. 

As a result, all 7000-series railcars were removed from service on all D.C, Metro lines, removing nearly 60% of Metro’s fleet. 

More : D.C. Metro releases 7000-series train cars after seven months off


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## APOQUINDO (Jul 17, 2007)

When will the Metro reach -finally- Dulles?


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## prageethSL (May 5, 2013)

*Control of Silver Line Extension turned over to WMATA*









Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) took control of the 11.4-mile Silver Line Extension on June 23 from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which oversaw the construction of the extension.

MWAA says it will continue to work closely with WMATA during the final testing period “to ensure the project meets all safety, security and dependability standards to deliver an efficient, reliable and attractive rail system that will serve the region for decades to come.” WMATA’s Board of Directors will determine an opening date for the extension based on final acceptance of the line.

“This milestone enables our team to test the tracks and systems, train and familiarize our workforce on yard operations, mainline and stations and ensure that we provide safe and reliable service for customers on the extension,” said WMATA Interim General Manager and CEO Andy Off. “We look forward to opening the new stations soon and delivering high quality rail connections to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County.”

Phase 2 of the Silver Line extends from the Phase 1 terminus at Wiehle-Reston East to Loudoun County, Va. The project fulfills a vision of bringing a rail connection to Washington Dulles International Airport that goes back to 1962. MWAA credits delivery of the project to decades long planning, design and construction work on the part of residents, the business community, landowners, advocacy groups and political leaders.
The six new rail stations that were built as part of the extension are at Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Loudoun Gateway and Ashburn. The extension also included a new, 90-acre rail yard with storage capacity for 168 railcars and new maintenance facilities to service, inspect and clean the trains.


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## prageethSL (May 5, 2013)

APOQUINDO said:


> When will the Metro reach -finally- Dulles?




__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1539990753006571523


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

Update: Silver Line To Receive Additional $250M For Completion, Airports Authority Says


The request for additional funding requires board approval.




dcist.com


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Around Union Station by Matt Csenge, on Flickr


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