Metro News Release

For immediate release: March 31, 2005

Metro to make system improvements for eight-car trains

Metro officials plan to install new stopping software needed to regularly run eight-car trains.

The trains are 600 feet long - exactly the same length as station platforms. But shorter trains have been overshooting station platforms more frequently over the last several years. Metro is looking to reverse that trend. There were 583 overruns last year, which averages 1.5 per day out of more than 35,000 daily station stops. Despite the increase, station stopping accuracy overall has been around 99.996 percent.

Metro has been working to improve train stopping accuracy over the last couple of years. Engineers attribute the increase in overruns to aging and malfunctioning track bed equipment and imperfections in the new ATC system that is being installed in most of the 952-rail car fleet. Rail car manufacturer ALSTOM has been making the necessary software revisions to improve the ATC design, which will be installed in the rail cars.

A station overrun happens when a train’s computer doesn’t detect marker coils on the tracks. ALSTOM engineers recommended installing a backup electronic system on the trains as opposed to more equipment on the tracks. The software registers the exact distances between every stop and marker coil, and detects if a marker coil is missed. The software fix is still being tested. Metro hopes to begin installing the upgrade over the next several months and officials predict a drop in overruns this fall. Metro is also repairing marker coils and providing more training for train operators, who can stop a train within the platform if they see signals that the ATC isn’t working properly.

News release issued on March 31, 2005.