Posts by Stephen Repetski — Editorial Board Alum
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Metro Reasons: Are shorter hours really helping Metro maintenance? Here’s what the data show.
Should Metro return to late night hours or keep them to make more time for badly-needed maintenence? As the debate continues in the region, there's been a dearth of data showing how useful the shorter service hours have actually been. But now we have data to help answer that question. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: Restoring late-night service would bust legal budget caps, staff say
It may not be possible to restore the late-night rail service hours which were cut back in 2016, according to a new Metro staff report presented to the Metro Board of Directors today. The late-night hours were reduced to allow the agency to perform more trackwork overnight, and they're set to expire in June unless the Board allows them to continue. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: Metro removes some fire extinguishers to fight vandalism
Fire extinguishers will soon no longer be available for riders to use on Metro's fleet of rail cars. Some riders keep spraying them in the cars, so the agency says they’re being removed in order to reduce abuse. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: 17,000 Yellow and Blue Line riders will need to find a different way to get around during next summer’s shutdown
Metro is planning to shut down the six Yellow and Blue Line stations south of National Airport for 100 days next summer, which certainly won’t be easy. The agency estimates the shutdown will impact 17,000 riders. WMATA is planning on running four shuttle bus routes between the affected stations, and is working with local partners to beef up existing routes. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: Amid trackwork, Metro says service has improved—but for fewer riders
After a brief recovery in July, Metrorail ridership dropped to new four-year lows in August and September 2018, according to a new quarterly report Metro published on Friday, November 9. There's some good news too: the report also indicates that the system is becoming more reliable. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: WMATA’s draft 2020 budget could be good news for riders
A Metro press release issued early Monday morning offers something that Metrorail riders haven’t had very much of recently: potential good news. The agency’s General Manager is proposing to extend rush hour service and reduce weekend fares, among several other rider-friendly proposals. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: Computer-driven trains are coming back — that’s good news for riders
Finally, some good news for riders: Metro is planning to restore computer-driven trains in June of 2019, just under a decade after the system was turned off following a fatal collision of two Red Line trains outside of Fort Totten. The return of “auto doors,” the process where doors automatically open once a train properly berths at a station, should also be returning. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: An unreported fire closed a station a year before a 2016 explosion. What did WMATA know about the risk?
An insulator caught fire and filled the Benning Road Metro station with heavy, thick smoke in a previously-unreported incident from August 2015. This came nine months prior to the insulator explosion in the Federal Center Southwest station in 2016, and raises new questions about what WMATA knew of the risks from its power system. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: Metro’s newest railcar order begins to take shape
Metro announced on Tuesday, September 4 that the agency is looking to buy anywhere from 256 to 800 new “8000-series” railcars to replace the oldest in the current railcar fleet. Overall, the new cars will look very similar to the 7000s with a few minor tweaks. Keep reading…
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Metro Reasons: Two train cars pulled apart on the Silver Line on Saturday
A Silver Line train experienced a “pull apart” Saturday morning on August 25 after leaving the McLean rail station headed inbound to Foggy Bottom. The trailing three cars on the train separated from the lead five, causing the train to become disabled and leading to hours of single-tracking as Metro employees worked to move the train to a rail yard. Keep reading…