A Metro official on Monday said the transit agency added eight trains to service this week, bringing the total number of trains operating to 40.
Four of the 40 trains are to help fill in gaps, manage crowding and deal with maintenance issues, said Sherri Ly, a spokesperson for the Washington-area transit system. There are now 12 of the 2000-series, 24 of the 3000-series and four of the 6000-series railcars in service this week.
Red Line trains will run every 15 to 20 minutes while the Green Line trains will run every 20 minutes. All other trains will run every 30 to 40 minutes. Due to the added trains, the Silver Line service will go to Largo Town Center instead of ending at Federal Center SW.
“We continue to work to get additional trains in service and [are] working to get up to 50 trains in service,” said Ms. Ly.
The older railcars were added to replace the 7000-series railcars, which were responsible for a train derailment last month. The railcars made up about 60% of Metro’s fleet. All the 748 7000-series railcars were removed from service after a Blue Line train derailed Oct. 12 near the Arlington National Cemetery station.
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation determined that faulty wheel assemblies caused the derailment. The train’s wheels shifted too far apart on their axles, a recurring problem with the 7000-series railcars.
Metro finished inspecting all of its 748 7000-series railcars last week and found a total of 20 axles to be out of alignment, according to Metro spokesperson Ian Jannetta.
On Friday, Metro restored power to the Shady Grove Yard and began inspecting more railcars to bring them back to service. The yard has been cut off due to the Rockville Canopy Replacement project. Metro will have to remove construction staging and equipment to get the railcars out, according to Metro.
Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld has said it is too soon to know who is responsible for the faulty wheel assemblies and the derailment, adding that the NTSB investigation must run its course.
Transit officials have not provided a timeline for when the investigation would wrap up and when the 7000-series railcars would be returned to the tracks.
Mr. Wiedefeld said last week once a wheel inspection plan is improved by the safety commission, then the agency needs at least two weeks to test the plan. Once that happens, Metro will have to devise a restoration plan to return the railcars to service.
The agency is still working to finalize its inspection plan to turn into the safety commission, officials said.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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