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Metro passengers might not notice a small change to their ride that is shaving seconds off their commute at each station, but transit leaders hope it is a precursor to improvements that soon will become much more apparent.
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Metro has started piloting train doors that open without human intervention as part of a broader plan to return automatic train operations (ATO) systemwide next year. The transit agency began certifying rail operators Wednesday to use the automatic door system, which debuted on some Red Line trains, as the feature is added to more trains daily.
Transit leaders say ATO mode eventually will lead to more punctual service, smoother rides, safer travel by reducing chances for human error, and energy savings from fewer speed fluctuations. The arrival of automatic doors on the Red Line is the transit agency’s biggest step in 14 years to restoring Metrorail automation, a technological step forward as the agency tries to lure back riders in the pandemic era.
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The new door system can reduce the time spent at each station by up to 15 seconds through built-in signals that convey to trains which set of doors should open. Metro spokesman Ian Jannetta said the function is operating on all models of rail cars and will expand systemwide in the coming weeks.
The use of automated doors “eliminates human error from the process of operating our train doors, meaning a safer, smoother trip,” Brian Dwyer, Metro’s chief operations officer, said in a statement. “Anyone who uses Metrorail has experienced the wait, standing at the door wondering when the doors will open.”
This is Metro’s third attempt to restore automatic doors since 2019, with the most recent coming in January 2021. That short-lived conversion also took place on the Red Line but was stopped because of “system issues,” according to the regulatory Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.
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No problems have been reported in the latest rollout. Metro officials say they have been testing automatic doors for months after service hours, a time in which the door system has performed more than 2,500 times without safety issues.
Metro delays full switch to automated trains until next year
ATO is the transit agency’s latest service improvement as Metro seeks to win back customers after the pandemic and telework slashed ridership. Over the past year, Metro has added nearly 12 miles to the Silver Line, opened a station in Alexandria, responded to fare evasion by modifying gates, and added roaming customer service representatives and mental health crisis specialists — all while shortening train waits to pre-pandemic levels.
Metrorail is averaging about 400,000 daily weekday trips, Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said, helping to propel bus and rail ridership to 67 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The increase in passengers comes as Metro is facing a projected $750 million operating shortfall starting next summer because of changed commuter habits, ballooning personnel costs and structural funding issues. Regional leaders are collectively working on a plan to increase and stabilize funding for the transit system, but no specific proposals have emerged.
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Automation could save Metro as much as $10 million annually, transit leaders have said.
Most modern rail systems, including the New York subway and rail systems in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles, use self-piloting trains on at least some lines.
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Metrorail’s default mode has always been ATO. Train controls were automated when the system opened in 1976 until a fatal rail collision in 2009, when it was disabled during the investigation.
The system never returned despite multiple investigations determining it didn’t play a role in a crash that killed nine passengers and injured 80 in Northeast Washington. Flawed sensors within Metro’s train detection system were blamed.
Metro has tried multiple times to revert to ATO, but past efforts stalled because of required infrastructure improvements or other priorities. In 2022, Metro established an office to relaunch the ATO initiative it is calling Automation 2.0, assigning engineers and technicians to the conversion.
Metro will return to automatic train system for first time in 14 years
In March, the team announced it believed Metrorail could fully convert back to ATO by December. However, the safety commission, an independent government agency that regulates the system, has raised concerns over the fast pace of the project. Last month, Metro said it would delay full ATO conversion by a few months to adopt a phased approach, starting with the return of automatic doors.
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Human train operators, who will be in cabs after the ATO switch, still manually close doors after ensuring passengers are onboard and no obstructions are present. That pleases Nicole Smith, 50, who lives in Montgomery County and regularly takes the Red Line from Glenmont to Prince George’s County.
“I would feel more safe if there was an operator doing it,” she said. “But I’m not opposed to automation.”
The Red Line is the first to test automatic doors, leaving the possibility of full automation on the line later this year. Other lines will follow a similar sequence, with automatic doors operating on trains early next year and ATO adoption systemwide likely to happen in the first quarter of 2024, according to Metro planning documents.
Metro’s rollout of the automatic door function is not permanent yet, said Tiffany Minor, a spokesperson with the safety commission. The safety commission will certify Metro to use the feature more widely after it reviews how safely the doors work and whether Metro meets its own safety standards for automatic doors.
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“This will occur once the [safety commission] has established that the requisite safety certification activities have been carried out as committed to by [Metro],” Minor said.
Red Line passengers said the faster doors increase convenience to some extent, but most didn’t expect much of a difference in their ride.
Metro operator investigated for using self-piloting system without clearance
Phil Gordon, 43, of Glenmont, is among those who have noticed rail car doors opening more quickly but viewed the advancement flatly.
“I’m not sure five seconds is really a big deal,” he said recently while boarding a Red Line train at the Fort Totten station.
Joel Santana, 25, said he has already noticed a few trains opening their doors a few seconds earlier.
Santana said a faster offloading and boarding system means he needs to move faster when climbing aboard. He said he can’t afford to miss the train.
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