During peak travel hours between 7am-9am and 4pm-6pm on weekdays, the time between trains on the Red, Blue, Silver, Green and Yellow lines will be reduced. The increase in service will increase train travel by more than 6%. This represents a 60 percent increase compared to levels a year ago, transportation officials said.
The new service is the latest step forward for Metro in a three-and-a-half-year struggle to restore high-frequency train service amid a decline in telework commuters. During that period, a year-long shortage of trains in 2021 caused by defective wheels put some of the agency’s newest rolling stock out of service.
“Metro works hard to provide frequent, reliable service to keep our region moving and our economy growing,” said Randy Clark, transportation general manager, in a statement. He said this: “This increase in service is another win for our customers and a testament to Metro staff who have worked hard to restore safe and frequent service.”
Commuter numbers on the metro’s bus system are approaching pre-pandemic levels, but rail ridership is slow to recover.
Metro’s average daily ridership is nearly 278,000 this year, up from just over 200,000 last year, but still about 45 percent lower than in 2019, according to the transit agency. data. Metro’s average daily ridership in August was about 294,000, down from about 300,000 a month earlier, records show.
Metro’s last service enhancement took place in June. Since last year, the agency has followed a plan to gradually increase the number of trains based on rail car availability, but future increases in service will be driven by increased passenger numbers, transportation officials said. Last month, elected officials in the White House and Washington area called on federal agencies to let employees work more days in offices, but how that might affect commuting in the area. It’s not clear.
“Metro will continue to monitor ridership trends and evaluate the need for future service adjustments based on ridership demand,” the agency said in a statement.
With the latest service improvements, the Red Line will run trains every five minutes during peak hours on weekdays, compared to other times of the day, subway officials said. Green Line and Yellow Line trains will run every 6 minutes instead of every 8 minutes. Blue Line and Silver Line service will jump from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes.
There will be no changes to service on the Orange Line, with trains running every 10 minutes every day, 365 days a year, except for infrequent services during late-night hours.