Metro's Says 7000-Series Railcars On Track To Return To Service By Summer's End

WASHINGTON, DC — Metro said it was still on schedule to return 7000-series railcars to service by late summer, according to a statement released on Thursday.

This week, workers installed the first automated inspection system, which will allow Metro engineers to begin testing 7000-series railcars in real-time and start the recommissioning of the system.

In a week in which news broke that Metro managers put frontline workers at risk by routinely skipping safety protocols and two top Metro officials tendered their immediate resignations after it was revealed that nearly half of Metro's rail operators had failed their recertifications, any forward movement on restoring 7000-series railcars would appear to be good news for the troubled transit system by comparison.

Metrorail has been under increased scrutiny since a Blue Line train derailed on Oct. 12, 2021 between the Rosslyn and Arlington National Cemetery stations in Virginia. A subsequent investigation revealed problems with the wheel axle assembly of Metro's 7000 series railcars, forcing the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority to sideline nearly 60 percent of its fleet.

WMATA made aborted attempts at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022 to reintroduce the 7000-series railcars to service, but the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, which provides oversight of Metro, halted that process when wheel axle assemblies continued to go out of alignment. WMSC told Metro it needed to revise its plan to reintroduce trains into service and implement a process to test cars in real time.

Last month, WMATA began reviewing its new return to service plan with WMSC, according to Thursday's statement. Under the new plan, Metro employees will be trained on new inspection guidelines that will allow them to start recommissioning the railcars.

"Metro has initiatives underway to return the cars back to passenger service, including the introduction of new technology to digitally inspect wheels, as well as an ongoing root cause analysis of last year’s derailment," according to Metro's statement.

As of yet, the National Transportation Safety Board-led investigation has not been able to identify the root cause of last October's derailment. MxV Rail (formerly known as TTCI) continues to run spin tests and ultrasonic tests to determine what conditions may have caused the derailment.

No evidence has been found linking the derailment to maintenance or the manufacturing of the equipment, according to Metro.

Related:

Top 2 Metro Officials Resign After Operator Recertification Failures

Metrorail Routinely Skipped Safety Protocols, Putting Workers At Risk

Metro Stops 7000-Series Car Returns, Orders Nightly Inspections