DC Metro Orange, Silver Lines Return to 6-minute Rush-Hour Service

Metro General Manager/CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld on Dec. 30, announced the resumption of six-minute rush hour service on the Orange and Silver lines, 13 weeks after a catastrophic fire knocked offline an electrical substation outside Stadium-Armory Station.

"I am pleased to be able to announce the restoration of six-minute service on the Orange and Silver lines this week," said Wiedefeld. "I want to thank the Metro customers who stayed with us despite less frequent service and crowding, and we know there is more work ahead to rebuild rider confidence and make service reliable."

Orange and Silver line trains began consistently departing endpoint terminals at six-minute headways on Dec. 28, for the first time since the Sept. 21 substation fire.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Metro was forced to take several steps to protect the remaining power system, including reducing the number of trains on the line by running Orange and Silver line trains every 8 minutes during rush hours, limiting acceleration, and restricting how many trains were in the area of Stadium-Armory. While these actions were necessary to prevent an even more significant disruption in rail service, customers were subjected to more crowded, less frequent trains and frequent "stop-and-go" sluggish rides during rush hours. Metro experienced a significant drop in both on-time performance and rider satisfaction in the wake of the incident.

The restoration of normal rush-hour headways follows weeks of recovery, cleanup, testing and commissioning of new equipment. Working with PEPCO, the Stadium-Armory substation was reconnected to the power grid about a week ago and began feeding electricity to the third rail.