Metro staff will propose a new line early next year that would run from the Blue Line’s Franconia-Springfield to Mount Vernon Square and other stations on the Yellow Line.
The Blue Line split idea has been around for some time, but recently became active again with the authority’s purchase of 184 new rail cars, said Jim Hughes, Metro’s chief of operations.
“Everything goes to the Pentagon, through Rosslyn and over to Largo. … The idea is to take a number of those trains and split them off at the Pentagon, go over the Yellow Line bridge and have them come through the eastern part of the city,” Hughes said, noting the details would be presented to the Metro Board of Directors in January at the earliest.
“The Rosslyn portal is very overburdened. The other [Potomac River crossing], Fenwick Bridge, is underutilized. Clearly we need a solution that makes use of all the unused capacity on the bridge,” said Chris Zimmerman, a Virginia representative on the Metro Board.
Dana Kauffman, another Virginia representative on the Metro Board, called the new line “a double-edged sword.” If the new line was made into a Yellow Line extension it would help about 60 percent of Franconia-Springfield’s customers, he said.
“For folks who are working at the Pentagon, it is a very helpful change. For folks who work at the Farraguts, it is more of a challenge. That is why it is critical to me to have the longer train and the better timed trains [with] a shorter gap between trains,” he said.
The Yellow Line extension north from Mount Vernon Square to Fort Totten is slated to begin at the start of the year.
“We are right now building 650,000 square-feet of retail space in Columbia Heights. It will be really meaningful to us in terms of those shoppers. It also gives our neighborhoods a direct route to National Airport,” said Jim Graham, a District representative on the Metro Board. He added the Blue Line Split would also add capacity to the line.
No changes will be made to existing service without public comment, Metro staff said.
Other Metro service ideas to use the new rail cars
» Stopping Red Line trains from turning around at Grosvenor and Silver Spring during rush hours
» Skipping stops for express train service, similar to special service for Nationals’ games
» Discontinuing four-car trains
