The looming return of more than half of Metro’s rail cars from a two-month suspension brought a sense of stability on Wednesday to transit riders and regional leaders faced with other worries amid the pandemic.
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But despite the relief, the reality of Metro returning to train frequencies that riders knew before an Oct. 12 derailment ushered in bare-bones service is not as easy as rolling back the clock.
The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission’s approval of the reinstatement of all 748 of Metro’s 7000-series cars came with conditions that will create staffing, training and time-consuming complications for the transit system at a time when it’s trying to win back passengers it lost during the pandemic. One day after the safety commission approved Metro’s plan to return the rail cars, Metro acknowledged Wednesday that many of those questions remained unanswered.
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Transit officials said they are focused on the first steps of reincorporating the cars back into daily service.
“This is good progress however it will take some time before we get all the 7000 series cars back into service safely,” Metro board chairman Paul C. Smedberg wrote in an email.
Metro to begin returning suspended rail cars after safety panel approves plan
The 7000-series is Metro’s latest model of train and had become a symbol of the transit system’s renewed pledge to safety and reliability after years of accidents, delays and mishaps. The problems culminated in a passenger’s death in January 2015 after a train stalled outside the L’Enfant Plaza station and filled with smoke, injuring several others.
The 7000-series trains — which feature stainless steel car bodies, lumbar-supporting seats, LED information displays and an automated public address system — are a dramatic breakaway from Metro’s previous rail car models. They began arriving from a Nebraska plant more than six years ago and immediately boosted reliability and performance, according to Metro performance audits.
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But two years after the cars began arriving, routine inspections uncovered two cases of fixed wheels moving outward on their axles, putting trains at greater risk for derailment. The defect remained largely unknown inside and outside of Metro until this year, when a Blue Line train derailed, forcing the evacuation of 187 passengers.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigation uncovered that the malfunction, which had shown up in a handful of cases between 2017 and 2020, had proliferated this year. The safety commission, a regulatory agency that oversees Metro safety, suspended the 7000 series until the transit agency could develop a plan to safely return it to service.
Metro submitted its plan this past weekend, pledging to put each car through weekly wheelset inspections aimed at catching the slightest irregularity. The commission raised no objections, making the cars eligible for use. The NTSB continues to investigate the cause of the defect.
Metro lays out early plan for reincorporating suspended series of trains
Metro officials said they plan to ramp up service levels slowly over several weeks. Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said Tuesday the transit system will phase in 336 — or just over half — of its 7000-series rail cars before taking 90 days to assess their performance and Metro’s new inspection process. At that point, it could begin incorporating the rest of the cars.
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Questions remain as to when that process might be complete, whether Metro will need to hire more staff members to conduct the indefinite inspections and who will pay for replacement parts and associated labor.
“What we’re focused now on is standing up this new inspection program — and so training the workforce and getting all of that to become a new regime,” said Lynn Bowersox, Metro’s senior vice president of customer service. “A weekly regime [of inspections] instead of every 90 days takes some work. Exactly how long that’s going to take is unclear.”
Metro officials have estimated that inspecting the cars will take a three-person team about 16 hours to measure the wheelsets on six cars. Bowersox said Metro, at least initially, has no plans to hire more technicians.
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“We are going to lean on the team that we have that knows this equipment best to do the training and learn how to do the new inspections on a weekly basis,” she said. “But over time, certainly that’s still a possibility.”
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For Metro, the reinstatement comes at a crucial time. Like all public transportation systems, it experienced historic passenger losses during the pandemic due to health concerns, unemployment and the prevalence of telework. But nearly two years into the pandemic, many downtown offices are planning to reopen for in-person work in the new year.
Vanessa Howatt, a 55-year-old business analyst for a D.C. nonprofit who will resume working in her District office next month, said the return of the 7000-series trains brought relief but also more questions about Metro’s commitment to safety. She said she plans to use Metro, but added that her trust is shaken — a challenge Metro leaders simultaneously must address while trying to lure back pandemic-weary riders.
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Howatt said she has considered alternatives of walking three miles to work or taking Metrobus.
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“Our Metro system is really, really poorly managed and it has been for a very, very long time,” she said. “That’s what scares me. I still ride it. You know, I guess I’ll take my life into my own hands. It’s better than driving, and it’s probably better than being on a bus.”
Decision to pull most of Metro’s trains from service was not made lightly, head of safety commission says
Mary Kate Martin, 28, of Alexandria, was on the Oct. 12 train that derailed and said she has been frustrated with inconsistent and late service. Packed cars and missed transfers over the past two months have added to her strain.
Martin said she hopes Metro is held responsible for the “turmoil and stress they’ve put on people’s lives and livelihoods.” Still, she said, she has no other choice but to ride.
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“If I didn’t have to ride, or even look at Metro ever again, I would be much happier,” she said. “But as it is, life has to go on. I hope that the frequent inspections don’t delay the trains at the same rate.”
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The reduced service levels also frustrated regional leaders, making some wonder about the value they were getting for heavily subsidizing the transit system, which serves the District, Maryland and Northern Virginia.
Jeffrey C. McKay (D-At Large), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said he was relieved that Metro again has access to its entire fleet.
“At a time when we must get people back on transit, longer headways and service reductions are very harmful to ridership,” he said in a statement. “As you know local governments in Virginia heavily subsidize Metro so that our residents can benefit from the service. During the last two months, they haven’t experienced many benefits at all.”