Metrorail is adding 20 rail cars on the Red and Green lines starting Monday — the first time in the agency’s history that 850 rail cars will be in service at once.
“With the additional 20 rail cars entering service on Monday, half of our rail fleet on the Green Line will consist of eight-car trains during the peak period,” said Dave Kubicek, Metro’s assistant general manager for Metrorail.
Metro will convert three trains each on the Red and Green lines to eight-car trains during morning and afternoon rush hours. The remaining cars will be used as a “gap” train available when another train experiences problems in an effort to help ease delays during the summer tourist season.
With the additional 20 railcars, Metro will use 850 rail cars during the morning and afternoon rush hours each weekday, reaching that level for the first time in the agency’s 33-year history.
“When you add more people, you need more vehicles,” board member Chris Zimmerman said.
Ridership for both rail and bus was up in February. The average weekday rail ridership was 724,285 trips.
The average weekday ridership for Metrobuses in February grew at the fastest rate for any period so far in the current fiscal year.
Ridership climbed 10 percent, from an average weekday total of 399,000 last year to 437,200 this year.
Though Kubicek hailed the additional rail cars, Zimmerman said the same kind of attention has not historically been paid to Metro’s bus fleet.
“Rail is always given a priority,” he said. “Bus in Metro [affairs] is almost an afterthought.”
Zimmerman added that the transit agency has vastly increased its rail fleet in the past 20 years but has added only 25 buses during that time.
Metro recently completed a $234 million upgrade to its 66 power substations to allow trains to use eight cars more frequently. The agency also recently received all 184 of its newest 6000-series rail cars, which include a double row of handrails along the ceiling, electronic “next station” signs inside cars and an emergency call box station.
