Metro train operators are being warned they will be asked sometimes to skip stations to speed their trains up to schedule, as the transit agency struggles to improve its on-time performance.
“We now get daily reports on Headway Adherence, which measures our ability to keep trains separated based on our schedule,” Blue/Orange line director Charles Dziduch wrote in a memo dated Feb. 22. “It is important for operators to maintain their schedule when we have no delays on the railroad, or, to maintain proper separation if you are held at a particular location following incidents. … Operators will also be asked to express through stations on occasion for schedule purposes.”
Metro Assistant General Manager Gerald Francis said it has always been the agency’s policy to skip stations to keep the line running on time.
“Servicing all of the stations is the primary goal, but we want to provide the service to our customers that they expect, and that’s the headway,” he said.
He said the station-skipping method is rarely used.
Trainscan fall behind schedule for a variety of reasons, including overcrowded platforms that slow train loading and unloading times, train breakdowns, or mechanical issues that force trains to hold at stations, such as when the car doors fail to open automatically.
Metro’s operations control center determines when to send trains past stations but will never order operators to skip more than two stations at a time, Francis said.
Operators are supposed to announce the plan in time for riders to unload at the previous station and wait for the next train if they want to, he said.
One longtime Metro operator said that orders to skip stations are becoming more frequent.
“Five years ago, I never skipped any stations,” the operator said. “Since the trains have been breaking down more, it seems like it has increased.”
Metro did not have any records available showing how often trains skip stations, but Francis said he does not believe the method is being used any more than before.
Metro board members demanded that staff prepare monthly on-time service performance reports this year after Metro’s on-time service numbers plummeted in 2007.
Metro staff blamed the service drop on increasing brake and door problems on the 32-year-old 1000-series railcars and on the problematic 5000-series cars, and on a spike in rail fires that has since been contained.
Metro improved its on-time rush-hour performance in January, breaking the 90 percent mark for the first time since December 2006.
