Metro News Release
For immediate release: September 5, 2003
Metrorail ridership tops 700,000 for Redskins season opener
Metrorail ridership reached 719,082 trips yesterday, September 4, the ninth highest ridership day in Metrorail’s history on a day that featured the Redskins season opener and the National Football League’s pre-game festivities on The National Mall.Metrorail stayed open two extra hours yesterday--until 2 a.m.-to ensure that fans who took Metrorail to the game could get home, and 14,260 fans took advantage of the late night service.Metro officials planned to offer expanded peak hour service with trains operating with rush-hour frequency from 2 to 10 p.m. in expectation of large numbers of people attending the 6 to 9 p.m. pre-game festivities on The Mall. However ridership was not heavy enough to justify the additional train service, so normal off-peak service resumed by 7 p.m. The typical peak service--with trains arriving every three to six minutes--runs from 3 to 7 p.m. on weekdays.An average weekday usually sees Metrorail ridership anywhere in the 600,000 to 650,000 range. The majority of riders travel during the morning and afternoon commute times; however, during mid-day and evening hours, the Metrorail system has much more capacity to carry customers. Weekends also tend to see considerably fewer riders in the Metrorail system, another time when there is plenty of room to ride on Metrorail.Metrorail’s High Ridership Days
| Rank | Date | Ridership* | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1-20-93 | 811,257 | Clinton Inauguration |
| 2 | 10-16-95 | 804,146 | Million Man March |
| 3 | 7-30-03 | 745,627 | Religious Conference/ World Cup Soccer |
| 4 | 6-25-03 | 726,789 | No Event |
| 5 | 6-26-03 | 724,507 | No Event |
| 6 | 7-31-03 | 724,017 | Religious Conference/ World Cup Soccer |
| 7 | 7-24-03 | 721,869 | No Event |
| 8 | 7-29-03 | 719,982 | No Event |
| 9 | 9-4-03 | 719,082 | Redskins/NFL Event |
| 10 | 4-15-02 | 718,747 | Pro Israel Rally |
News release issued on September 5, 2003.