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All aboard for some Metro improvements

Date published: 1/12/2003

THE WASHINGTON METRO has some impressive improvements lined up for this year.

Although Metro just might be the best transit system in America, it is still moving ahead--straining to keep up with the crowds of riders but also leading the industry with security innovations and acting to reduce pollution.

For some Fredericksburg-area commuters, Metro is the final link in the journey to their offices. For other travelers, it is the service that takes them to the front door of Reagan National Airport. For families, it is the train that takes them to the National Zoo or the National Air and Space Museum on weekends.

Virginia Railway Express riders have five possible transfer points to Metro; Amtrak riders have two. Sometimes, however, using Metro means driving to a Metro station, particularly if you want to spend the evening in Washington.

For anyone who has driven to the Franconia-Springfield Metro station, about 40 miles north of Fredericksburg, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has some good news: The parking facility, which fills up early on weekdays, is getting 1,000 more parking spaces, and the work should be finished this summer. Other stations throughout the system are getting increased parking capacity as well.

Also by this summer, Metro should have all 192 of its new cars in service. About half are in operation now. Added to the 800-plus cars in the current fleet, these new vehicles will enable Metro to operate six cars on all rush-hour trains, some of which now have only four.

The new cars will also allow Metro to remove some older cars from service for overhaul work. Metro has ordered an additional 62 cars, and is working to secure funding for 120 more after that so that the system can operate eight-car trains.

Besides expanding its fleet, Metro continues to expand its rail system. Work is under way on the Red Line station at New York Avenue and on the Blue Line extension to Largo, both of which are expected to open next year.

Planning has begun for the Dulles International Airport line and for the Purple Line, which would parallel the Capital Beltway in Maryland. And wouldn't a complete Purple Line all the way around Washington be a welcome alternative to the Beltway?

Less visible are Metro's security enhancements--in fact, some of the details are secret.

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Date published: 1/12/2003