Metro had a plan to run more trains on the Fourth of July. It didn’t happen.

A draft proposal floated by Metro could have allowed the agency to run more trains for the Fourth of July. But in the end, Metro didn’t ask permission from the independent Metrorail safety oversight commission to do so, and the agency settled for amassing as many of its older railcars for the post-firework timeframe that it could.

Metro has been running a significantly-reduced rail fleet since October of 2021, when a Blue Line train derailed outside the Arlington Cemetery station. The investigation into the derailment is ongoing, but preliminary information showed that the wheels on one of the 7000-series train’s eight cars had moved two inches leading to the wheels to leave the tracks, stemming partially from an issue the agency had been dealing with since at least 2017.

The derailment led Metro to ground its entire 7000-series fleet, which comprises 748 of the agency’s 1278 active railcars. Of the remaining 40% of the fleet, Metro has also been running with fewer 6000-series railcars. Those cars were removed from service in 2020 after two trains unexpectedly came apart, but began showing back up in 2021 after Metro committed to overhauling the equipment which holds the 6000-series cars together.

Metro’s current rail fleet levels allow the agency to run trains significantly less frequently than budgeted. Red Line trains run every 10 minutes, Yellow and Green every 15, and Orange, Silver and Blue run every 20. Metro’s approved budget shows trains should be running every 10 minutes during rush hour (every 5 on the Red Line) and every 12 in off-peak periods.

Metro is currently allowed to run eight 7000-series trains in service daily, in addition to its older cars, but with required daily manual wheelset inspections (although the agency has temporarily suspended their use for a “couple of days”).

Metro messaging warns riders about delays

With current rail equipment limitations in mind, Metro began warning riders prior to that there would be delays, including potentially “longer wait times, up to 60 min” to enter the crowded downtown stations after fireworks.

“In the run-up to this year’s festivities,” said Metro spokesperson Ian Jannetta to Greater Greater Washington, “we communicated to customers the differences in service compared to previous years due to the ongoing shortage of available railcars, including the alternatives to Smithsonian Station available for post-firework travel as that station experiences lines and crowding after the show every year. MTPD officers and Metro personnel were strategically placed at high-ridership areas to ensure crowds were able to clear safely.”

Point of clarification… #wmata

We’re asking customers to prepare for longer lines to enter stations near the National Mall after the fireworks, up to 60 minutes.

Using a further away station or allowing crowds to thin out after the 🎇 are great options, if you can

— Metrorail Info (@Metrorailinfo) June 29, 2022

The warnings appear to have worked. Metro says rail ridership on July 4th this year was 253,000 trips - up from the last two years impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic, but significantly down from prior years. The number of trips recorded on Monday is lower even than some of the recent weekday numbers reported by the agency.

Metrorail ridership two weeks prior from June 20 to 25 averaged 242,000 trips per weekday; the week before that, rail ridership averaged 270,000 trips per weekday. Weekday rail ridership on both Monday the 22nd and Monday the 13th were higher than that of Monday, July 4: 157,000 and 239,000 trips, respectively.

Metro had plans to run more trains on the Fourth of July. Then…

Metro staff work for weeks each year leading up to the Fourth of July festivities to prepare, and this year was no different. Extra staff need to be scheduled to be on-hand to help with crowding, Metro Transit Police Department officers need to be stationed, and more train operators need to be in place to help riders get to and from the event.

The lack of 7000-series trains was a hindrance this year unlike prior years. With nearly 60% of the system’s rail fleet grounded, Metro needed to figure out what to do to cope with expected crowds.

Two weeks before the July 4 service plan, Metro floated an idea by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission (WMSC), the independent commission that oversees Metrorail safety, to see if they would be allowed to run extra trains for the one-day event, according to three sources who spoke with Greater Greater Washington under condition of anonymity so they could speak freely. The Washington Post first reported this story.

The plan, if approved, would have used a set of additional, inspected, 7000-series trains to boost the all-day service that Metro offered on the holiday. The agency would have been able to run more trains than typical on a current weekday, providing more space for more riders to take Metro down to DC. As in years past, the agency would have deployed more spare “gap” trains to help relieve crowding at downtown stations after the event, taking riders from DC back out to wherever they came.

The extra trains would have been enough for the agency to run what, according to its budget, amounts to a regular Saturday service schedule: trains every 12 minutes on all lines except Red, where they run every 6 minutes.

But the plan didn’t come to pass. Metro never ended up submitting a formal request to the WMSC to run more trains, which one source suggested could have been to avoid a public rejection notice from the oversight body.

Metro spokesperson Ian Jannetta confirmed that Metro discussed running more trains with the WMSC, but that the final plan didn’t include their use: “While the planning process for this year’s July 4 service did include conversations with the WMSC about the possibility of running additional 7000-series trains, the final service plan included preparing additional legacy railcars to effectively clear post-firework crowds from downtown stations.”

In an emailed statement from WMSC spokesperson Tiffany Minor, “WMATA submitted its July 4 Service Plan on June 22. WMATA withdrew its request and as a result the WMSC gave no further consideration to the proposal.”

The WMSC order allowing Metro to use some 7000-series trains includes a requirement that revisions to the plan require a “14-day review period” for the oversight commission to review the updates. June 22 is 12 days before July 4.

The reasons why Metro withdrew the request are not fully known.

Additional legacy non-7000-series trains were stationed throughout the rail system and used in the period after fireworks ended to help with expected crowding at the downtown stations and get people back to their homes. The extra post-event trains appear to have worked: crowds waiting to get into Smithsonian station on the Orange, Silver and Blue lines were nowhere to be seen at the one-hour mark after fireworks.

Metro ran on average four of the eight allowed 7000-series trains on the day after the 4th. The same staff needed to inspect and ready the 7000’s for service are some of the same who were used to prepare extra trains ready for yesterday’s event, and now needed to catch up on their daily inspection duties.