Metro is proposing a major change to the Blue Line that would double wait times during rush hour for riders at many of the stops along the line but would ease the crush on other congested lines.
The plan to pull some trains from the Blue Line to the Yellow Line during peak hours is designed to accommodate growing ridership to the eastern part of downtown D.C. — an area that includes Penn Quarter, Chinatown and Eastern Market, Metro officials said.
Under the plan, six of the 10 trains that originate every hour at the Blue Line Franconia-Springfield station would travel their normal course through Rosslyn and across the Potomac River to Foggy Bottom and beyond.
The remaining four trains would veer off the Blue Line when they reach the Pentagon Station and follow the Yellow Line across the Potomac. They would continue all the way to Greenbelt, currently served by only the Green Line, before turning around to retrace their course. The shift would mean that after passing the Pentagon Station, Blue Line trains going to Rosslyn would run every 12 minutes during rush hour instead of every six minutes.
“People will still have the opportunity to take the Blue Line around and go to Foggy Bottom or Farragut West, but they also will have the opportunity to transfer at L’Enfant or transfer at Gallery Place, depending on where they’re going,” Metro Planning Director Jim Hughes said.
According to Hughes, Yellow Line ridership between the Pentagon and L’Enfant stations grew 13 percent between 2002 and 2007. Ridership between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom fell 4 percent. An increase in Yellow Line service would save riders who travel between Pentagon and L’Enfant about eight minutes, officials said.
It also would improve on-time service on the Orange and Blue lines by removing some trains from the traffic-clogged Rosslyn station, which currently sees a train every 135 seconds during peak periods, Hughes said.
“I really think it’s good for Metro to look at their resources, to look at their ridership count and figure out if there’s some way within their existing resources to improve service,” Metro Riders Advisory Council Chairwoman Nancy Iacomini said. “But they’re going to have to do a test — they can’t just make the change.”
Hughes said the agency will speak with Arlington County officials about the effect the plan will have on riders.
