Report a Comment

@Vicente Fox:
You can read more about why the Yellow Line stops at Mount Vernon Square during rush hours here: http://ggwash.org/6335

But I'll give the basics again. You might find it surprising that it is not just a money issue.

Before 2006, Yellow Line trains always stopped at Mount Vernon Square. The off-peak extension to Fort Totten costs Metro $3 million more per year.

To extend the Yellow Line to Fort Totten during peak periods would cost an additional $3 million per year.

Now, during off-peak periods, to extend the Yellow Line from Fort Totten to Greenbelt would cost an additional $2 million per year ($5 million more than stopping at Mount Vernon Square during off-peak).

During peak periods, that extension would cost an additional $5 million over current service levels (trains stop at Mount Vernon Square during rush hour).

What that means is that extending the Yellow Line to Greenbelt during all times would cost the transit agency $7 million per year more than it costs to run the system currently.

But even if WMATA wanted to do that today, they could not.

To run Yellow Line trains to Fort Totten during peak periods, Metro would need to buy 30 more railcars (5 new 6-car trains) since there are not enough cars in the fleet at present. They would also need to build a pocket track north of Fort Totten at significant expense.

To run Yellow Line trains to Greenbelt during all times, they would need to purchase 60 new railcars (10 6-car sets).

Both of those scenarios would also require expansion of railyards to have more storage tracks.

Metro is currently procuring the 7000 series cars to replace the 1000 series (300 cars) and for the Silver Line (64 cars, for phase I). The next 64 cars on the order will be for Phase II of the Silver Line. Following that are 100 cars to replace the 4000 series (these are actually rehabs, not replacements). After that, Metro could purchase cars for fleet expansion.

So the earliest a full-time Yellow extension to Greenbelt could happen would be in 4-5 years or so. It would have a capital cost of about $200 million and an annual operating cost of $7 million.

by Matt Johnson on Sep 6, 2011 11:51 am • link • report