Washington DC: Rail transit

[Qubert]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I like this concept. I had the idea myself, years ago, to express the silver line from East Falls into the district. The only flaw I see in your description is that if the Yellow Line is to be deleted from the map, the Silver Line can't interline at all with the Green Line tracks through L'Enfant Plaza. There would have to be a separate platform built in its own station box somewhere adjacent or below the existing station box.

The Silver would run paralell to the Green, but not *with* it. Something akin to how both the (7) and 42st Shuttle both run under 42nd st without sharing anything.

Having the Silver take over the Yellow would enable the Green line to be forked toward either terminus, if there are any viable expansions, enabling the yellow color to return.

On it. With the current Green Line all by itself, a new "Yellow" would break off after Columbia Heights and run up 16th St NW to Silver Spring, then along US 29 to Columbia, MD. On the southern end, I'd extend the Green down MD 5 to Waldorf with the Yellow splitting off before Naylor Rd to serve National Harbor.

[202_Cyclist]

Opening of Potomac Yard Metro nears


Photo courtesy of the Alexandria Times.

By Olivia Anderson
Alexandria Times
Feb. 23, 2023

"A string of controversies and delays have long dogged the Potomac Yard Metro Station, but Andy Off, vice president and chief infrastructure officer of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, on Tuesday confirmed that a May opening is planned.

The May date was announced late last year, but concerns with soil stability under the tracks, the latest problem with the project, had jeopardized the ribbon cutting.

“We’re still looking good for that time period. We’re starting to work through the details of establishing a specific date,” Off said. “… Certainly it’s a beautiful new station that’s been planned for a long, long time, so we certainly want to make it a special event..."

https://alextimes.com/2023/02/openin...d-metro-nears/

[Busy Bee]

Dcist | FEB 23, 2023

Metro Exploring “Open Gangway” For Its 8000-Series Trains

Jordan Pascale


Metro is exploring a drastic change to its upcoming new 8000-series trains: an open gangway. Open gangway trains have no doors between cars, allowing riders to freely move through parts of or the entire length of the train. It can improve train capacity, and provide more space for people who use wheelchairs and people with bikes, strollers, or luggage. Loading times can also decrease as people have more places to spread out. One odd sensation of riding on an open gangway train is that you can see the train bend as it rides around a curve.

The concept has been used for years in London, Paris, Toronto, China, and other places internationally, but the idea has been slow to roll out in the U.S. New York’s MTA will start to use open gangway trains this year and Atlanta’s MARTA is also set to get open gangway trains in the near future.

During a board meeting Thursday, Metro General Manager Randy Clarke said the transit agency was exploring the technical feasibility of the idea and will be getting feedback from the public, Metro’s accessibility committee, and its rider advisory committee.

“One of the things the senior team and I’ve been talking a lot about is how do we get our agency to be as close as we can to international and domestic best of the best standards and operate that way,” Clarke said. “And sometimes if someone is doing something better, it’s okay to cut and paste and learn from them and move forward.”

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