Metro News Release

For immediate release: December 13, 2004

Metro outlines coordinated snow preparation efforts for winter

Metro is taking a more aggressive approach to snow this winter by equipping some passenger trains with deicing equipment so that they can be utilized while moving customers;"hardening" a fleet of 500 cars to better handle the snow; and replacing 8,000 feet of heater tape with new tape to keep ice and snow off of the electrified third rail that provides electricity to power the trains.

For the first time in Metro’s 28-year-history, snow-fighting equipment will be both affixed to the front of trains and used on in-service trains. In the past, only empty trains used to clear tracks of snow and ice. Metro’s diesel-powered trains, called prime movers, are used when passenger trains were not on the tracks--typically late at night, which placed Metro behind the snow-fighting curve.

This season, 20 six-car trains will be equipped with de-icing units to combat snow and ice on the third rail. Customers will see the de-icing equipment on the rail cars. It is neither dangerous or flammable, and customers need not be concerned that it is aboard their train, yet if they prefer not to be in a rail car with the equipment, they can move to another rail car. Those same trains also will have special ice scraper collector shoes to help keep ice off of the third rail. If the third rail has ice build-up on it, it does not allow for the free flow of electricity from the rail to power the train. Keeping the third rail ice-free is a continuous process.

New "heater tape" has also been installed on critical sections of track with significant grades/inclines and in critical areas in the rail yards. Heater tape is a cable clipped onto the third rail that is turned on when temperatures dip below the freezing mark to keep the third rail warm enough to prevent snow and ice build-up on the third rail.

Metro railcar maintenance staff have also "hardened" a fleet of 200 additional rail cars this year by protecting the undercarriage motors from snow ingestion and electrical short circuits that are caused by water/snow and debris ingestion. This will bring the snow-fighting fleet to 500 cars that will be available during snow operations. The hardening process includes the special immersion treatment of traction motors by coating them with a protective material using a vacuum pressure process and by coating motor frames/housings and coils.

Metro will also take the following actions to ensure that during snowfall, rail cars remain in good working condition to the maximum extent possible.

▸ Eliminate the shortening of trains from six-cars to four-cars after rush hour because by maintaining longer trains the freezing of the couplers that attach the rail cars will not be an issue when resizing the trains. ▸ Increase the frequency of trains during non-peak periods and when the system is closed in the middle of the night to help prevent an accumulation of snow on the tracks. ▸ Provide rail car door threshold sweeping to remove snow, salt and ice from train doors at terminals and in yard to supplement cars equipped with threshold heaters.

As part of a coordinated communications effort to share information regionally in the event of a major snowstorm, Metro will participate, as it has in past years, in COG conference calls with regional leaders to coordinate key messages on Metro services during an anticipated snowstorm. Metro will also continue to utilize COG’s web-based snowstorm emergency assessment system to keep rail and bus system status current among regional decision-makers.

If the Washington metropolitan area faces a major winter storm where snowfall is expected to reach eight inches or above, Metro will operate underground rail service only at 30-minute intervals. This will help Metrorail service to return to normal as quickly as possible. Under this plan, Metrorail service would operate as follows:

▸ Red Line: between Medical Center and Union Station ▸ Orange Line: between Ballston-MU and Stadium Armory ▸ Green Line: between Georgia Ave-Petworth and Congress Heights ▸ Yellow Line: between Pentagon and Crystal City ▸ Blue Line: between Rosslyn and Stadium Armory which parallels a portion of the Orange Line

Metro can move trains in the snow without any problems until the snowfall accumulation reaches eight inches or more at which time the depth of snow starts to interfere with the electronic components under the trains. In the past, during the blizzards of 1996 and 2003, major snowfalls in excess of eight inches of snow caused extensive railcar damage, which resulted in lengthy service restoration periods after the storms ended.

Running trains only through underground stations when snow reaches eight or more inches will lessen the damage to the electrical components of trains and means that normal service and capacity can resume quicker because more trains will be available for use.

Underground-only operations allow for continued connections to key activity centers in the downtown D.C. and Pentagon areas, and support Metro underground rail car storage needs and a rapid return to normal service once the snow begins to melt.

Under this plan, Metro could store approximately 300 rail cars underground. Only 50 cars would be used to run the underground service every 30 minutes. While at the same time, Metro could concentrate on snow removal along the above ground portion of the rail system. Immediately following a snow storm of eight or more inches, Metro projects capacity levels to be at 50 percent of peak requirements. Within 48 hours, Metrorail could return to normal service.

If Metro should have to reduce service or move to underground operations only, it will use a number of ways to get the word out to customers: E-alerts to personal communications devices of individuals who are registered (those not registered for e-alerts can visit Metro’s Web site to do so); the Web site at www.metroopensdoors.com.; the Customer Information line at 202-637-7000 (TTY 638-3780); electronic elevator notifications; information distributed in advance at Metrorail stations; and through frequent updates via the media with ongoing media advisories and news releases.

News release issued on December 13, 2004.