The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) added 20 rail cars to its fleet today on its Red and Green Lines, marking the first time in the agency’s 33-year history that 850 railcars will be in service at one time.
Approximately half of Metro’s trains on the Green Line will be eight-cars long instead of six-cars during both the morning and afternoon rush hour. Metro will convert three trains each on the Red and Green lines to eight-car trains long. The adding of rail cars was timed to assist with getting baseball fans to the Washington Nationals' opening game today and throughout the season.
Remaining cars will be used as a “gap” train that will be available when another train experiences problems to support the summer tourist season during the morning and afternoon rush hour.
With the additional 20 rail cars, Metro will use 850 rail cars during the morning and afternoon rush hours each weekday. The addition of the cars was made possible due to the recent upgrades of Metro’s 66 traction power substations, for expanded eight-car train service.