Metro News Release

For immediate release: September 7, 2006

Metro’s 50 Newest Rail Cars to Be in Service by This December

Express Train Service; Splitting the Blue Line at Pentagon; Reliability Improvements; Eliminating the Remaining Red Line Turnbacks Also Proposed

Metro’s Board Customer Service, Operations and Safety Committee today approved an initial plan to deploy the first 50 of Metro’s new 6000 series rail cars by December. The new rail cars will be used to relieve crowding on all rail lines during the rush hour periods. The Board was also presented with a series of proposals to improve rail service operations including express train service, splitting the Blue Line at the Pentagon Metrorail station, eliminating all remaining Red Line turnbacks, and improving service reliability.

Deployment of 50 New 6000 Series Rail Cars

Metro’s Board approved a plan that guarantees riders on all lines will receive additional rail cars to help relieve crowding. The first six new cars are expected to enter service this month. Forty cars will be equally distributed among the rail lines, with 10 additional cars to be held in reserve.

“Today’s action by the Metro Board ensures that by December, all rail lines will receive additional rail cars to relieve crowding. The new cars will help reduce the number of 4-car trains and make them 6-car trains during peak hours, and at the same time we will increase the number of 8-car trains,” said Steve Feil, Metro’s Chief Operating Officer for Metrorail.

With the deployment of the first 50 cars, Metro will begin to operate initial 8-car train service on the Red and Green Lines. Yellow Line riders will have all 6-car trains, and Blue Line riders will see two 4-car trains converted to 6-car trains.

“We have seen a 5.5 percent increase in total systemwide ridership in the last year and a 15.9 percent increase in the last five years,” said Jim Hughes, Metro’s Chief Operating Officer for Operations Support. “This initial deployment will help spread the wealth to all rail lines, and by December, our passengers should begin to see a difference.”

Early next year, Metro officials will discuss the deployment plan of the remaining 134 6000-series rail cars, which will be delivered through 2008.

Proposals under Consideration to Enhance Metrorail Service

Blue Line Split at Rosslyn

During the morning and afternoon rush hours, half of the trains (five) leaving the Franconia-Springfield Metrorail station would travel through Rosslyn and continue to Largo Town Center along their current route. The other half leaving Franconia-Springfield (five) would “turn” at the Pentagon to follow across the Yellow Line Bridge and continue to Greenbelt, providing additional rail service from Virginia to the District of Columbia to Maryland.

Eliminating Remaining Red Line Turnbacks

This proposed service plan would eliminate the turnback at the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metrorail station during the peak hours and at Silver Spring during the peak and off-peak periods. (Turnbacks at Grosvenor-Strathmore during the off-peak are scheduled to end in October.)

Express Train Service

This proposal would provide quicker service from the end-of-the-line stations to downtown Washington during the peak period by scheduling some trains to skip certain stations, creating “Express Service.” Trains would service major stations from the ends of the lines and service all stations in the downtown core.

Reliability Improvements

This proposal would see trains depart end-of-the-line stations seven minutes apart instead of six minutes during rush hour except the Red Line. Red Line service would not change. By expanding service one additional minute it should improve service reliability by optimizing the number of trains into downtown and would reduce the number of stops and starts.

Metro is currently analyzing all of these proposals and will return to the Customer Service, Operations and Safety Committee this winter to present a detailed plan and possible implementation dates of service.

News release issued on September 7, 2006.