METRORAIL. Fleet Management Plan

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Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

METRORAIL

Fleet Management Plan

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority i Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 REVISION HISTORY

Version Date Authorization Change Description Draft 1 Feb 26, 2010

Revision 1 Sept 17, 2010 To address FTA and PMOC comments Revision 2 Jan 31, 2011 To address FTA and PMOC comments Revision 3B July 12, 2011 To address FTA and PMOC comments Revision 3C July 27, 2011 To address WMATA comments Revision 3D July 29, 2011 To address WMATA comments Revision 4A Sept 26, 2011 To address FTA and PMOC comments Revision 4B October 6, 2011 To address WMATA comments Revision 4C January 27, 2012 To address FTA and PMOC comments Revision 4D March 9, 2012 To address FTA and PMOC comments Revision 4E March 14, 2012 To address WMATA comments Revision 4F April 18, 2012 To address FTA and PMOC comments Revision 4G August 2012 To address FTA comments

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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ii Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

Revision History ... i List of Tables and Figures... v 1.0 Introduction ... 1-1 1.1 Overview of Plan ... 1-1 1.2 Plan Timeframe ... 1-2 2.0 Definition of Acronyms and Terms ... 2-1 2.1 Acronyms ... 2-1 2.2 Terms ... 2-2 3.0 Existing System ... 3-1 3.1 Description of Current System ... 3-1 3.1.1 General Operating Characteristics ... 3-1 3.1.2 Support Facilities ... 3-4 3.2 Inventory List ... 3-5 4.0 Expansion Plan... 4-1 4.1 Dulles Corridor Rail Extension (Silver Line) ... 4-1 4.2 Blue/Yellow Line Realignment ... 4-3 5.0 Demand for Revenue Vehicles ... 5-1 5.1 Peak Passenger Demand ... 5-2 5.1.1 Systemwide Ridership Patterns ... 5-2 5.1.2 Metrorail Ridership Forecasts ... 5-4 5.1.3 Maximum Load Points ... 5-5 5.2 Passenger Load Standards ... 5-8 5.3 Line Requirements ... 10

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority iii Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

5.3.1 Minimum Peak Vehicle Requirements ... 5-10 5.3.2 Vehicle Run Times ... 5-10 5.3.3 Train Consists ... 5-14 5.3.4 In-Service Vehicle Requirement ... 5-17 5.3.5 Gap Trains ... 5-20 5.4 Peak Vehicle Calculations ... 5-22 5.5 Spare Vehicle Calculation ... 5-22 6.0 Supply of Revenue Vehicles ... 6-1 6.1 Current Vehicle Supply ... 6-1 6.1.1 1000-Series ... 6-2 6.1.2 2000/3000-Series ... 6-2 6.1.3 4000-Series ... 6-3 6.1.4 5000-Series ... 6-3 6.1.5 6000-Series ... 6-3 6.2 Adjustments to Vehicle Supply ... 6-4 6.2.1 Accident-Damaged Vehicles ... 6-4 6.2.2 Disposition Pending Vehicles ... 6-4 6.2.3 Revenue Collection Vehicles ... 6-4 6.3 Existing and Planned Fleet Procurements ... 6-5 6.3.1 7000-Series Railcar Procurement Program ... 6-6 6.3.2 2000/3000 Series Rail Car Replacement ... 6-7 6.3.3 Contingency Fleets, Retirements, and Procurement ... 6-7 6.3.4 Summary of Existing and Proposed Procurements ... 6-8 6.4 Define Rehabilitation Projects ... 6-11 6.4.1 Rehabilitation/Replacement Schedules ... 6-11 6.4.2 Vehicle Availability ... 6-12 6.5 Useful Life... 6-12 7.0 Maintenance and Reliability ... 7-1 7.1 Preventative Maintenance Program ... 7-2 7.1.1 Inspections ... 7-2

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority iv Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

7.1.2 Scheduled Overhauls ... 7-5 7.1.3 Cleaning ... 7-5 7.2 Fleet Failure Rates and Unscheduled Corrective Maintenance ... 7-6 7.3 Engineering Campaigns ... 7-11 7.4 Ongoing Reliability Initiatives ... 7-12 7.4.1 Mileage Based System for Scheduled Maintenance ... 7-12 7.4.2 Road Mechanics ... 7-13 7.4.3 Supply Management ... 7-13 7.4.4 Control Center Staffing ... 7-13 7.4.5 Training and Staffing ... 7-14 7.5 Test Track and Commissioning Facility ... 7-14 7.6 Repair Shop and Storage Facilities Requirements ... 7-15 7.6.1 Current Maintenance Facilities ... 7-15 7.6.2 Future Maintenance Space Needs ... 7-17 7.6.3 Rail Car Storage Space ... 7-19 7.6.4 Long Range Storage and Maintenance Planning ... 7-22 7.7 Summary ... 7-23 8.0 Revenue Vehicle Demand / Supply Balance ... 8-1 8.1 The Need for Balancing ... 8-1 Appendix A: Operations Scenarios for Milestone Years ... A-1 Appendix B: Dulles Load Analysis ... B-1

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority v Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 3-1: Summary of Metrorail Lines ... 3-3 Table 3-2: Current Maintenance Facilities ... 3-5 Table 3-3: Current Metrorail Fleet ... 3-6 Table 5-1: AM and PM Peak Hour Maximum Passenger Volumes by Line, May 2010 ... 5-4 Table 5-2: Forecast Annual Growth Rates for Ridership at Select Line Segments ... 5-5 Table 5-3: AM Peak Hour Maximum Loading Points by Line ... 5-7 Table 5-4: Metrorail Passenger Load Standards ... 5-9 Table 5-5: Minimum AM Peak Hour/Peak Direction Vehicle Requirements By Line ... 5-11 Table 5-6: One Way Travel Times of Metrorail Routes ... 5-13 Table 5-7: Current and Proposed System Peak AM Headways ... 5-15 Table 5-8: Proposed Consist Lengths as Percentage of Scheduled Trains ... 5-16 Table 5-9: Peak Hour, Peak Direction In-Service Vehicle Requirements ... 5-18 Table 5-10: Peak Period In-Service Vehicle Requirements ... 5-20 Table 5-11: Gap Train Requirements, All Lines ... 5-22 Table 5-12: Peak Vehicle Requirements, All Lines ... 5-23 Table 6-1: Current Metrorail Fleet ... 6-1 Table 6-2: 7000-Series Car Procurement Schedule ... 6-6 Table 6-3: Comparison of 7000-Series to the Existing Fleet ... 6-7 Table 6-4: Summary of Existing Vehicles and Proposed Vehicle Procurements ... 6-9 Table 6-5: Useful Life Summary ... 6-13 Table 7-1 Average Daily Vehicles Out of Service Daily for Preventative Maintenance, by Maintenance Type ... 7-2 Table 7-2: Overview of Preventative Maintenance Inspections ... 7-3 Table 7-3: Periodic Inspection Block Assignment by Yard ... 7-4 Table 7-4: Explanation for Daily Cars Out of Service ... 7-7 Table 7-5: Mean Distance Between Delays, FY2009-FY2011... 7-8 Table 7-6: Mean Distance Between Failures FY2009-FY2011 ... 7-9 Table 7-7: Mean Time to Restore ... 7-10 Table 7-8: FY 2011 Engineering Campaigns ... 7-12 Table 7-9: Detail Configuration of Current Metrorail Shops ... 7-17 Table 7-10: Metrorail Car Shop Space Requirements ... 7-18 Table 7-11: Metrorail Car Fleet Storage Space Capacity and Needs ... 7-20 Table 7-12: FY2020 Metrorail Car Fleet Storage Projection by Line ... 7-21 Table 8-1: Vehicle Demand and Supply Summary ... 8-3

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority vi Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

Figure 3-1: Metrorail System Map ... 3-2 Figure 3-2: Metrorail Maximum Line Capacities ... 3-3 Figure 3-3: Location of Key Facilities ... 3-4 Figure 4-1: Dulles Corridor Metrorail Extension ... 4-2 Figure 4-2: Blue/Yellow Line Realignment ... 4-4 Figure 5-1: Metrorail Average Weekday Ridership, 1976-2010 ... 5-2 Figure 5-2: Metrorail Average Weekday Station Boardings by Time of Day, May 2010 ... 5-3 Figure 5-3: Metrorail Maximum Load Points For AM Peak Hour ... 5-6 Figure 5-4: AM Peak Hour Passenger Loads-100 % 8-cars in 2020 and 2025 ... 5-16 Figure 5-5: AM Peak Hour Passenger Loads - 50% 8-cars Through 2025 ... 5-17 Figure 7-1: FY 2011 Maintenance Requirement ... 7-1 Figure 7-2: Sub-System Delays (> 3 minutes) per Million Miles... 7-11 Figure 7-3: Metrorail Car Shop and Vehicle Storage Yard Locations ... 7-16

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority vii Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 1-1 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012

1

INTRODUCTION

This document, the Metrorail Fleet Management Plan (the Plan) is a statement of the processes and practices by which the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) establishes its current and projected Metrorail revenue vehicle fleet size requirements and operating spare ratio. It documents how service goals are applied to existing and forecast levels of ridership to establish fleet requirements for Metrorail service, and how these requirements are affected by vehicle maintenance needs, expansions of the Metrorail system, and other factors affecting the operation of the system. It also documents the key challenges WMATA faces in meeting its service and maintenance goals.

1.1 OVERVIEW OF PLAN

The Metrorail Fleet Management Plan is organized as follows:

• Section 1.0(Overview of Plan) summarizes the purpose of the Plan and provides an outline of the topics it covers. It also explains the institutional framework within which the Plan was developed and the timeframe it was designed to cover.

• Section 2.0 (Definition of Terms) provides a list of terms and acronyms used throughout the Plan.

• Section 3.0 (Existing System) describes the existing Metrorail system and explains its role in the regional transportation network. It also provides an overview of the existing fleet and key facilities used to operate the Metrorail system.

• Section 4.0 (Expansion Plan) explains how planned extensions of the Metrorail system are anticipated to affect its overall operations and fleet requirements.

• Section 5.0 (Demand for Revenue Vehicles) documents how WMATA applies its loading standards to ridership estimates to determine the frequency of service and fleet size required to maintain an adequate level of service. It also documents how passenger and maintenance demands determine the number of operating spares necessary to run the Metrorail system.

• Section 6.0 (Supply of Revenue Vehicles) explains how the demand for vehicles documented in Section 5.0 will be met through a combination of strategies including overhaul of existing vehicles and the procurement of new vehicles. This section also discusses how the planned overhauls and procurements are anticipated to affect vehicle availability and the useful life of the fleet.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 1-2 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 • Section 7.0 (Maintenance and Reliability) provides a detailed explanation of how Metrorail’s preventative and corrective maintenance programs determine the availability of vehicles for revenue service. It also discusses how the constraints of the existing maintenance and storage facilities affect maintenance schedules for the system.

• Section 8.0 (Revenue Demand/Supply Balance) uses the information developed in the previous sections to assess how well WMATA’s fleet management strategy balances the demands on the fleet versus the existing and planned supply of vehicles.

The Plan is a living document that is based on current realities and assumptions, and it is therefore subject to future revision. It has been developed to be consistent with the guidelines established for fleet management plans by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in their 1999 Dear Colleague letter and in FTA’s Oversight Procedure 37 – Fleet Management Plan Review. The Plan complies with WMATA’s Quality Assurance Policy and Procedures Manual and has undergone a formal review and approval process.

1.2 PLAN TIMEFRAME

The Plan covers fleet requirements for a 15-year timeframe, from 2010 to 2025. This timeframe captures all existing and committed improvements to the Metrorail system, and provides adequate lead time to adjust operating, maintenance, and procurement strategies to accommodate anticipated changes in revenue fleet supply and demand. Each section of the Plan addresses how the fleet management practices will be addressed for the following milestone years:

• FY 2010

• FY 2014, the opening year for Dulles Phase I (See Section 4.0)

• FY 2017, the opening year for Dulles Phase II

• FY 2020

• FY 2025

Where appropriate, additional information is provided for individual years or ranges of years between these milestones to demonstrate how annual changes in the supply or demand for vehicles affect fleet management practices.

The Plan is consistent with the current delivery schedule for vehicles as of December 21, 2011.

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2

DEFINITION OF ACRONYMS AND TERMS

2.1 ACRONYMS

ADA Americans with Disabilities Act

ATC Automatic Train Control

ATO Automatic Train Operation

CAF Construcciones y Auxilar de Ferrocarriles, S.A., a Spanish railcar

manufacturer

CMMS Car Maintenance Management System

CNI Capital Needs Inventory

DPMM Delays per Million Miles

EMI Engineering Modification Instructions FPMM Failures per Million Miles

FTA Federal Transit Administration, United States Department of Transportation HVAC Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning

MDBF Mean Distance between Failures

MTTR Mean Time to Repair

MWAA Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority MWCOG Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer

OSR Operating Spare Ratio

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PTR Peak Train Requirement

PVR Peak Vehicle Requirement

S&I Storage and Inspection Yard

WMATA Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 2.2 TERMS

“A” CAR – The even-numbered car of a married pair that houses the Automatic Train Control apparatus.

AUTHORITY – The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

AUTOMATIC TRAIN CONTROL – The system for automatically controlling train movement, enforcing train safety, and directing train operations.

“B” CAR – The odd-numbered car of a married pair.

BELLY CAR– A revenue vehicles used in the center position of a six- or eight-car train. CONSIST – The quantity and specific identity of vehicles that make up a train.

DROP BACK OPERATOR – A train operator placed at the departure end of a terminal station to allow the train to “turn” or return to service quickly.

FAILURE RATE – The frequency of failure, expressed as failures per million miles.

GAP TRAIN – A ready train stored for immediate deployment in the event a train must be taken out of service.

HEADWAY – The time between consecutive trains operating on the same route.

INTERLOCKING – An arrangement of special track work and signals to prevent conflicting movements through a rail junction, crossover, or crossing.

JUNCTION – A point at which two rail lines merge into one. Junctions can be grade-separated at stations to allow passengers to transfer from one line to another.

LEAD CAB – The controlling cab in a train consist.

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D E F I N I T I O N O F A B B R E V I A T I O N S A N D T E R M S

MARRIED PAIR (Two-Car Unit) – The combination of an “A” car and a “B” car, semi-permanently coupled and sharing certain essential apparatus, and the smallest unit capable of independent operation.

MAXIMUM LOAD POINT – The segment of a line that carries the highest number of passengers using that line.

MEAN DISTANCE BETWEEN DELAYS – A measure that reports the number of miles

between railcar failures resulting in delays of service greater than three minutes. Factors that influence railcar reliability are the age of the railcars, the amount the railcars are used, and the interaction between the railcars and the track. The higher the mileage for the mean distance between delays, the more reliable the railcars.

OPERATING SPARE RATIO – The number of spare vehicles (as defined by subtracting the Peak Vehicle Requirement from the total available fleet) divided by the Peak Vehicle Requirement.

OPERATOR – The individual on board who is responsible for train operation in manual modes and overseeing train operation in any automatic mode.

OVERHAUL – Disassembly into component parts or subassemblies; replacement of worn and defective parts (with new or reconditioned parts as approved by WMATA); and reassembly into complete functional assemblies, in accordance with the OEM recommended instructions/procedures.

PEAK VEHICLE REQUIREMENT– The total number of revenue vehicles, inclusive of scheduled standby (gap) vehicles, required to operate schedule peak period service.

PERFORMANCE – The measure of output or results obtained by a component, system, person, team, and so forth, as specified.

RELIABILITY – The probability of performing a specified function, without failure and within design parameters, for the period of time intended under actual operating conditions.

REVENUE SERVICE – Service on routes established for train use by the public.

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SERVICE LIFE – The actual time during which any vehicle serves its intended purpose of safely and reliably transporting passengers. The end of service life occurs when degradation of the structural integrity of the vehicle requires that it be removed from service.

TRAIN – A set of two, four, six, or eight rail vehicles coupled and operating together. TRIPPER TRAIN – An extra revenue vehicle scheduled to operate during peak hours of service to supplement the passenger capacity provided by trains operating on a regularly scheduled headway.

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3

EXISTING SYSTEM

3.1 DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT SYSTEM 3.1.1 General Operating Characteristics

The WMATA Metrorail system currently operates 86 passenger stations along 106 miles of heavy rail rapid transit, serving the District of Columbia and adjoining areas of Maryland and Virginia. The majority of the stations in the Metrorail system provide multimodal transfer facilities, including Park and Ride facilities and connections to the following transit services: the Metrobus services operated by WMATA, the bus service operated by local jurisdictions, Amtrak, the MARC commuter rail service and the Virginia Railway Express (VRE). All stations are in service for 19 hours each day Monday through Thursday, 22 hours on Friday, 20 hours on Saturday, and 17 hours on Sunday. All platforms in these stations are 600 feet long, and each platform is capable of accommodating one, eight-car train at a time. Figure 3-1 illustrates the existing system and its stations.

The system operates along five, double-tracked rail lines (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Orange.) Table 3-1 summarizes the key characteristics of each line. The service patterns and fleet required by each line to achieve these headways are described in Section 5.0.

As shown in Figure 3-1, the Blue and Orange Lines share tracks through the core area of the region, as do the Yellow and Green Lines. The Blue and Yellow Lines also share tracks in Arlington and Fairfax Counties. These shared segments of track offer WMATA flexibility in structuring service patterns to meet operational needs, and allows WMATA to provide combined headways and greater passenger capacity in downtown Washington, D.C. However, the capacity of these shared track segments are limited by the capacity of the junctions where they connect. Figure 3-2 illustrates the maximum number of trains that may use each segment of the track in an hour.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 3-2 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 FIGURE 3-1: METRORAIL SYSTEM MAP

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E X I S T I N G S Y S T E M

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 3-3 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 TABLE 3-1: SUMMARY OF METRORAIL LINES

Line Length (mi.) Number of Stations

Peak Headway

(min.) Scheduled Trains

Average Weekday Ridership** Red 31.9 27 3* 41 277,741 Yellow 15.1 17 6 10 60,052 Green 23.0 21 4.6* 20 105,091 Blue 30.3 27 6 23 120,104 Orange 26.4 26 3.5* 30 187,663

*Combined headway, including use of short-lines and tripper trains. See Section 5.0 for detailed explanation of service patterns. **WMATA, May 2010.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 3-4 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 3.1.2 Support Facilities

In addition to the lines and stations of the system, Metrorail also relies on a key set of facilities to ensure the reliability and quality of service, including:

• Storage and inspection (S&I) Yards and tail tracks

• Heavy maintenance facilities

• Pocket tracks

The location of these facilities is shown in Figure 3-3. FIGURE 3-3: LOCATION OF KEY FACILITIES

Maintenance Facilities

Metrorail uses nine major facilities to store and maintain the fleet, including eight storage and inspection (S&I) yards, two heavy maintenance facilities, and a set of tail tracks at Largo Town Center. The location and function of each facility is documented in Table 3-2; additional discussions regarding the role of these facilities in maintaining a supply of vehicles for revenue service are described in Sections 6.0 and 7.0.

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E X I S T I N G S Y S T E M

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 3-5 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 TABLE 3-2: CURRENT MAINTENANCE FACILITIES

Name Location

Vehicle Storage

Capacity Maintenance Bays Year Opened Functions

Storage and Inspection Facilities

Alexandria Blue/Yellow

Line 176 20 1981

Storage and inspection, light maintenance Branch Avenue Green Line 166 8 2002

Storage and inspection, light maintenance, maintenance

campaigns Glenmont Red Line 132 0 1998 Storage and inspection (no

shops) Largo Tail Tracks Blue Line 42 0 2004 Storage and inspection (no

shops) New Carrollton Orange Line 114 28*

1978 (expanded in

2006)

Storage and inspection, light maintenance, maintenance

campaigns* Shady Grove Red Line 168 36 1983 Storage and inspection, light

maintenance West Falls Church Orange Line 148 20 1986 Storage and inspection, light _maintenance

Heavy Maintenance Facilities

Brentwood Red Line 86 40 1974

Storage and inspection, light maintenance, heavy repair,

and overhauls Greenbelt Green/Yellow

Line 284 22 1995

Storage and inspection, light maintenance, heavy repair,

and overhauls

Total 1,316 174

*Eight bays at New Carrollton are used for maintenance campaigns. See Section 7.0 for a discussion of these campaigns and their impact on the availability of revenue cars for service.

Pocket Tracks

The Metrorail system includes seven mid-route turnbacks, each of which is configured to operate as a third or “pocket” track capable of storing an 8-car train. These pocket tracks were incorporated into the design of the system to allow for “short-lining”, an operational practice that allows select trains to turn back along the line rather than continuing service to the terminal station. Short-lining allows WMATA to concentrate service in the core of the system, where passenger capacity where it is needed most. The service strategies that make use of the pocket tracks are explained in further detail in Section 5.0.

3.2 INVENTORY LIST

As of January 11, 2011, WMATA’s fleet of revenue vehicles consisted of 1,142 rail cars, of which 1,104 are available for revenue service (the disposition of the 38 vehicles unavailable

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for revenue service is explained in Section 6.0.) All Metrorail cars operate in married pairs, with an operating cab at each end and have extruded aluminum carbodies. Each pair of cars can operate either fully automatic or manual mode and have hydraulic friction brake system, automatic train control system, a static converter low voltage system, automatic HVAC control, electronic flip-dot or LED destination signs and automatic couplers. Because of the design features of the A–car and B-Car, they must operate in married pairs; no car can be operated as a single unit.

A 750-volt DC third rail system supplies primary propulsion power to the vehicles via inverters for AC drive, floor heating and as input to the low-voltage power supply (LVPS) and the APS inverter(s).

WMATA acquired the six existing fleets through a series of procurements made from 1974 through 2008. The series are fully compatible with one another and capable of operating on all lines within the Metrorail system, maximizing the flexibility WMATA has in deploying vehicles for service. All Metrorail vehicles are compliant with Buy America and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Table 3-3 summarizes the key characteristics of each procurement; a description of each may be found in the paragraphs below.

TABLE 3-3: CURRENT METRORAIL FLEET

Manufacturer Series Available Seats Purchased Years Overhauled Year Number Owned

Number for Service* Rohr Industries 1000 80 1974-1978 1994-1997 300 278 Breda Construzioni Ferroviarie 2000 68 1983-1984 2003-2004 76 76 3000 68 1984-1988 2004-2008 290 282 4000 68 1992-1994 100 100 Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A. (AAI/CAF) 5000 68 2001-2004 192 184 Alstom 6000 64 (A-car) 66 (B-car) 2006-2008 184 184 Total 1,142 1,104

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4

EXPANSION PLAN

Only one expansion of the system has been committed for implementation during the 15-year timeframe of the Metrorail Fleet Management Plan: the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension. To prepare for this expansion, WMATA is also planning to realign service from the Blue Line to the Yellow Line. This realignment will represent a major change in Metrorail operations, and will need to be taken into consideration as part of the discussion of existing and future fleet requirements. This section provides a description of these changes and their anticipated impacts on existing Metrorail operations.

4.1 Dulles Corridor Rail Extension (Silver Line)

On March 10, 2009, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood signed the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project (also known as the “Silver Line”. This agreement made it possible for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project to move into construction. It is anticipated that Phase I of the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension will be completed in December 2013 (FY 2014) and that Phase II should be operational by 2017.

Phase I of the project will extend Metrorail service from the existing Orange Line station at East Falls Church into Tyson’s Corner, the busiest employment hub in the metropolitan area, and then continue onto Wiehle Avenue on the eastern edge of Reston. Phase II of the project will continue the extension from Wiehle Avenue to Reston Town Center, Herndon, Dulles International Airport, then terminate in Eastern Loudoun County at the Route 772 Station in Ashburn. When completed, the Dulles Corridor rail extension will add 23 miles and 11 stations to the Metrorail system. Figure 4-1 provides a map of the Dulles Corridor rail extension.

The operating plan established by the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project Final

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) calls for service to be operated from the Route 772 Metrorail Station to the East Falls Church Metrorail Station, then continue service along the Orange Line as far as the Stadium-Armory Metrorail Station. The operating plan calls for seven-minute headways during peak service hours.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 4-2 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 FIGURE 4-1: DULLES CORRIDOR METRORAIL EXTENSION

Source: Metropolitan Washington Aviation Authority.

Overall, the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension will have four major impacts on the Metrorail system:

• Increased ridership. Phase I of the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension is forecast to carry a peak hour maximum load ridership of 4,600 passengers in the eastbound segment of the line leaving Court House Station. Peak maximum load ridership for the Silver Line is anticipated to increase to 5,800 passengers when Phase II opens in 2017. In addition, the Silver Line is anticipated to serve existing and potential demand for reverse commuting to the Dulles Corridor from the center of the region.

• Increased fleet requirements. The FEIS states that Phase I operations will require 18 trains and that Phase II operations will require 24 trains. This will require up to an additional 64 cars to operate the Metrorail system in Phase I and an additional 64 cars in Phase II. (A detailed breakdown of the composition of these trains is provided in Section 5.0.)

• Increased maintenance requirements. To accommodate the additional storage and maintenance facilities required by the new service, the existing maintenance facility

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E X P A N S I O N P L A N

at West Falls Church will be expanded to include 38 additional vehicle storage spaces and eight new maintenance bays. In addition, a new maintenance facility is planned for Phase II of the project, located between the proposed Dulles Airport Station and the Route 606 Station.

• New impacts on existing Metrorail operations. The additional service to Dulles will require nine additional peak hour peak direction trains to move through the Rosslyn portal. As the capacity of this tunnel portal is limited, it will be necessary to reroute a portion of the service currently operating through Rosslyn. This is discussed below as part of the Blue/Yellow Line Realignment.

While Dulles Phase I is anticipated to begin operations in December 2013, all of the vehicles necessary to run the schedule defined in the FEIS will not be available until June 2015. Because of this, WMATA has developed a minimum interim schedule that will allow the same frequency of service using a reduced number of vehicles. Under this schedule, 28% of the trains throughout the system will use 8-car consists, while the remainder will use 6-car consists (WMATA has developed a ranges of cars needed for start-up operation, 900-930 rail cars. Updated detailed ridership will be collected prior to the start-up and train consists will be finalized at that time.) While this interim schedule is in effect, peak hour passenger loads are anticipated to exceed the planning standard of 100 passengers per car by up to 9%. The interim schedule is anticipated to remain in effect from December 2013 through August 2014, by which time the first eight 7000-Series cars will have been tested, commissioned, and ready for revenue operation. The remaining cars necessary to run the schedule defined by the FEIS will be commissioned between August 2014 and June 2015 and will be put into service as soon as available to minimize crowding.

A detailed explanation of the interim operating plan and Phase II operating plan is provided in Appendix B.

4.2 Blue/Yellow Line Realignment

WMATA is proposing to reroute a portion of Blue Line service onto the Yellow Line prior to Phase I Dulles opening. The current schedule for this change in service is July 2012 (FY 2013). This will accomplish three objectives:

• Free up capacity in the Rosslyn portal. As noted above, the capacity of the Rosslyn portal is constrained. The addition of new service from the Orange Line to the Dulles Corridor is anticipated to use up this capacity and begin to affect the reliability of service along the Orange, Blue, and Dulles services. Rerouting a portion will relieve pressure on the portal and improve service reliability.

• Provide more direct service between Virginia and growing employment centers in the eastern portion of downtown. As noted in an October 2008 report from the Office of Planning, between 2002 and 2007, ridership between Pentagon and

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L’Enfant Plaza grew by 13%, while ridership between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom declined by 4%. Rerouting Blue Line trains onto the Yellow Line would reduce travel times for Blue Line passengers heading to eastern portions of downtown by up to 12 minutes while increasing the capacity of this route.

• Better utilize capacity on the 14th_{Street Bridge.}_{As of June 2011, a total of 10 peak}

hour, peak direction trains were using the 14th Street Bridge to cross the Potomac

River, as opposed to the 27 peak hour, peak direction trains using the Rosslyn portal. Rerouting Blue Line trains onto the 14th Street Bridge will relieve pressure on the

Rosslyn portal by better utilizing the available capacity on the 14th Street Bridge.

Figure 4-2 illustrates the proposed realignment. The realignment would be phased in to allow passengers to adapt to the new service pattern. Initially, three peak hour, peak direction Blue Line trains would be operated between Franconia-Springfield to Greenbelt, while the Orange Line will add three peak hour trains between West Falls Church and Largo to maintain the headways between Stadium-Armory and Largo. Once Phase I of the Dulles Rail Corridor Extension is implemented, four peak hour, peak direction Blue Line trains would operate across the 14th_{Street Bridge. The details of these service patterns and}

their implications on the peak vehicle requirement are discussed in greater detail in Section 5.0.

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5

DEMAND FOR REVENUE VEHICLES

This section summarizes the approach by which WMATA develops fleet size requirements to meet the demand for revenue vehicles. The WMATA service planning process consists of six major steps:

• Step One: Determine peak demand for Metrorail service. Peak demand for Metrorail service is developed from passenger counts and ridership forecasts and then defined for the maximum load points within the system. The data and calculations used in this step are described in Section 5.1.

• Step Two: Determine the revenue vehicle requirements for each line. This is done by applying WMATA’s passenger load standards (described in Section 5.2) to the maximum load points in the Metrorail system to determine the minimum number of rail cars necessary to meet peak demand. Applying the vehicle run times and operating constraints of each line to this minimum vehicle requirement, WMATA then determines the appropriate length and number of train consists to operate during the peak hour on each line. This process is described in Section 5.3.

• Step Three: Determine number of cars needed for strategic gap trains. When a train must be taken out of service because of a mechanical function or other operating problem, a gap train can be used to replace it and maintain the regular schedule. The gap train requirements of the system are explained in detail in Section 5.3.

• Step Four: Determine total operating Peak Vehicle Requirement (PVR). The PVR is the sum of peak car requirements of all lines in the system plus gap trains. The actual PVR differs from the calculated requirements established in Steps 1-3 due to two limitations: the need to operate cars in married pairs and the need to operate the 1000-Series as belly cars. The impacts of these constraints on the PVR are discussed in Section 5.4.

• Step Five: Determine Operating Spares Ratio (OSR). The Operating Spares Ratio (OSR) takes into account the number of vehicles that must be made available to accommodate both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance activities. It also takes into account equipment-specific requirements (e.g. married pairs, fleet-specific restrictions on operating as end cars) that may affect the availability of vehicles for revenue service. These issues are discussed in Section 5.5.

• Step Six: Determine total fleet requirement. This represents the sum of the rail cars required for peak service (including gap trains) and the rail cars included in the

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Operating Spares Ratio. The total fleet requirement for 2010 through 2025 are presented in Section 5.5, and serve as the basis of discussions regarding the supply of revenue vehicles (presented in Section 6.0) and the impact of maintenance practices on the availability of revenue vehicles (presented in Section 7.0).

5.1 PEAK PASSENGER DEMAND

WMATA calculates peak passenger demand for the Metrorail system using two, primary sources: (1) historical passenger counts; and, (2) ridership forecasts developed using the regional travel demand model maintained by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG). These sources are then analyzed by WMATA staff to identify the peak periods of passenger demand and maximum load points within the system during an average weekday.

5.1.1 Systemwide Ridership Patterns

As transit ridership is highly seasonal, WMATA considers May to be a “typical” month of transit usage: service disruptions due to inclement weather are minimal and there are fewer weekday special events (e.g. Presidential Inauguration, Cherry Blossom Festival, 4th_{of July.)}

Figure 5-1 illustrates average weekday ridership for the Metrorail system from its opening in 1976 through May 2011.

FIGURE 5-1: METRORAIL AVERAGE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP, 1976-2010

As would be expected, Metrorail ridership has grown with the expansion of the system. Metrorail started operations with five Red Line stations in 1976, completed the originally planned system in 2001 and then expanded further in 2004 with the extension of the Blue Line to Largo Town Center. Prior to the recession of 2007, Metrorail weekday ridership

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D E M A N D F O R R E V E N U E V E H I C L E S

grew at an annual rate of 3%. In recent years, ridership growth remained flat; however, it is anticipated that ridership will continue to increase as the regional and national economies recover. As of May 2010, average daily ridership for the Metrorail system was 730,750. WMATA monitors ridership on a monthly basis to determine if service adjustments are necessary to meet changes in peaking characteristics on each line. Figure 5-2 illustrates the distribution of ridership across an average weekday in May 2010. The Metrorail system has two, distinct peaks during an average weekday: a morning peak from 5:00 AM to 9:30 AM and an evening peak from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The peak hours during these periods are 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, respectively.

FIGURE 5-2: METRORAIL AVERAGE WEEKDAY STATION BOARDINGS BY TIME OF DAY, MAY 2010

Table 5-1 disaggregates the peak hour maximum passenger volume by line for both the AM and PM peak hours. With the exception of the Green Line (which tends to peak half an hour before the other lines), each Metrorail line experiences its maximum peak hour passenger load in the AM peak hour. Because of this, WMATA uses the morning peak hour to define the maximum demand for the Metrorail system.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-4 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 TABLE 5-1: AM AND PM PEAK HOUR MAXIMUM PASSENGER VOLUMES BY LINE, MAY 2010

Line

Segment

(From – To) Hour Peak

Peak Hour Maximum Load Passenger Volumes Maximum Peak Hour Volume

Red Gallery Place – Metro Center AM 11,900 AM

Metro Center – Gallery Place PM 10,200

Yellow Pentagon – L’Enfant AM 5,800 AM

L'Enfant – Pentagon PM 5,300

Green Waterfront – L’Enfant AM 7,200 AM

L'Enfant – Waterfront PM 7,000

Blue/Orange Rosslyn – Foggy Bottom AM 4,800 PM

Foggy Bottom – Rosslyn PM 5,300

Subtotal AM 70,900 AM

Subtotal PM 62,300

TOTAL 133,200

5.1.2 Metrorail Ridership Forecasts

Future Metrorail ridership is forecast using the MWCOG regional travel demand model, which takes into account how changes in population and employment across the region will affect regional travel patterns and transit ridership. The forecasts from the MWCOG travel demand model are used as input to WMATA’s in-house transit forecasting model, which then generates link-specific rail volumes.

The modeling process takes into account those transportation improvements that are committed for implementation within a 20-year timeframe. Major improvements to the Metrorail system that are accounted for in the MWCOG model include:

• Phases I and II of the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension

• Blue/Yellow Line Realignment

• Plans to increase operate 50% 8-car consists by FY 2014 and 100% 8-car consists by FY 2020

Based on the results of the MWCOG model, Metrorail ridership is anticipated to grow approximately 3% annually from 2010 through 2020. Between 2020 and 2030, ridership growth will slow to 1% annually, consistent with MWCOG land use forecasts that show population and employment in this timeframe will grow by the same rate within the WMATA service area.

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Table 5-2 summarizes the ridership growth rates for critical segments of the Metrorail system. Ridership growth is anticipated to vary from station to station across the system, responding to the local changes in population, employment, and access to Metrorail.

TABLE 5-2: FORECAST ANNUAL GROWTH RATES FOR RIDERSHIP AT SELECT LINE SEGMENTS

Segment

(From – To) Line(s)

Annual Growth Rates

2009-2015 2015-2020 2020-2030

Gallery Place – Metro Center Red 2.8% 2.8% 1.0%

Waterfront – L’Enfant Green 5.2% 5.2% 1.0%

Pentagon-Rosslyn Blue -10.1% -2.7% 1.0%

Pentagon – L’Enfant

Yellow 0.3% 0.3% 1.0%

Blue n/a* 6.5% 1.0%

Subtotal 6.0% 2.2% 1.0%

Court House – Rosslyn

Orange 2.0% 0.0% 1.0%

Silver n/a* 10.7% 1.0%

Subtotal 4.9% 3.7% 1.0%

Systemwide All 3.0% 3.1% 1.0%

*n/a: Annual growth rates for the Dulles Rail Corridor Extension and Blue/Yellow Realignment were not included in this table, as these improvements will be coming online during the 2009-2020 timeframe.

Stations on the periphery of the region are expected to experience more ridership growth than those close to the core of system, reflecting the higher rate of jobs and population growth projected for areas outside of the core. Stations along the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension will attract new Metrorail riders, as well as Metrorail riders who may have previously used the Orange Line. Ridership at Green Line stations within the District of Columbia is expected to increase due to the addition of several major developments along the line (e.g. USDOT offices at Navy Yard, Nationals Park.)

5.1.3 Maximum Load Points

Based on the output of the WMATA model, the following maximum load points within the system were identified:

• Red Line: Gallery Place-Chinatown to Metro Center, westbound direction

• Yellow Line: Pentagon to L’Enfant Plaza, northbound direction

• Blue Line: Pentagon to Rosslyn, eastbound direction

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-6 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 • Orange and Silver Lines: Court House to Rosslyn, eastbound direction

The locations of these load point in the system are illustrated in Figure 5-3. Table 5-3 summarizes the average morning peak hour ridership forecast for each of these load points for 2010, 2020, 2025, and the opening years of Phase I and Phase II of the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-7 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 TABLE 5-3: AM PEAK HOUR MAXIMUM LOADING POINTS BY LINE

Max Loads Segments Line 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Gallery Place - Metro Center (Westbound) Red 13,200 13,500 13,900 14,300 14,700 15,100 15,600 16,000 16,500 16,900 17,400 17,600 17,700 17,900 18,100 18,300 Waterfront - L'Enfant (Northbound) Green 5,900 6,200 6,500 6,900 7,200 7,600 8,000 8,400 8,900 9,300 9,800 9,900 10,000 10,100 10,200 10,300 Court House – Rosslyn (Eastbound) Orange 12,200 12,500 12,700 13,000 10,800 10,800 10,800 10,800 10,800 10,800 10,800 10,900 11,000 11,100 11,200 11,400 Silver 0 0 0 0 4,600 4,700 5,200 5,800 6,400 7,000 7,800 7,900 8,000 8,000 8,100 8,200 Subtotal 12,200 12,500 12,700 13,000 15,400 15,500 16,000 16,600 17,200 17,800 18,600 18,800 19,000 19,200 19,400 19,500 Pentagon – Rosslyn (Eastbound) Blue 5,000 5,100 3,400 3,500 2,800 2,600 2,500 2,300 2,200 2,100 2,300 2,300 2,300 2,400 2,400 2,400 Pentagon - L'Enfant (Eastbound) Yellow 0 0 1,700 1,800 2,500 2,600 2,800 2,900 3,100 3,200 3,600 3,600 3,700 3,700 3,700 3,800 Blue 6,500 6,500 6,600 6,600 6,600 6,600 6,600 6,600 6,700 6,700 6,700 6,800 6,800 6,900 7,000 7,000 Subtotal 6,500 6,500 8,200 8,300 9,100 9,200 9,400 9,600 9,700 9,900 10,300 10,400 10,500 10,600 10,700 10,800

Toal Max Load

Ridership All 42,800 43,800 44,800 46,000 49,200 50,200 51,700 53,400 55,100 57,000 58,400 59,000 59,600 60,200 60,800 61,400

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Ridership along the Red and Green Lines is anticipated to grow steadily in response to increases in population and employment along these lines. Orange Line ridership is anticipated to decrease once Phase I of the Dulles Corridor Rail Extension goes online, as existing Orange Line passengers who live closer to Phase I stations switch over to Silver Line service. Silver Line ridership is expected to grow with the completion of Phase II, contributing to the overall increase in ridership experienced at the maximum load point between Court House and Rosslyn Stations. Blue Line ridership between Pentagon and Rosslyn is anticipated to decrease once the Blue/Yellow Realignment is implemented and passengers with destinations in eastern downtown shift over to services along the new Blue/Yellow Line. Yellow Line ridership is anticipated to grow steadily between 2010 and 2025, but not at the same rate as expected on the Red and Green Lines.

All told, a total of 42,800 passengers must be accommodated at the maximum load points along the five Metrorail lines during the morning peak hour, and this total is anticipated to grow by 43% by 2025. The ability of the Metrorail system to handle these passenger loads will be dependent on WMATA’s ability to provide service that is consistent with our passenger loading standards and within the operating restrictions of the existing and planned Metrorail system.

5.2 PASSENGER LOAD STANDARDS

To ensure that Metrorail remains the mode of choice for both existing and future passengers, WMATA places a premium on providing a high quality of service. WMATA defines the quality of service provided by Metrorail according to six factors: safety, speed, cleanliness, frequency, comfort, and service reliability. In the context of the Plan, no issue influences the quality of service more than Metrorail’s passenger loading standards:

• Safety. Passenger load standards ensure that sufficient passenger capacity is provided to minimize crowding and allow for safe access and egress from revenue vehicles.

• Speed. Passenger loading standards help to minimize crowding, which minimizes the dwell times necessary for passengers to board and alight and the travel times on each line.

• Cleanliness. Passenger loading standards help control the volume of passengers using each train, minimizing the wear and tear on car interiors and associated time necessary to clean passenger areas of the train.

• Frequency. Passenger loading standards dictate the frequency of service needed to clear the maximum load points in the system.

• Comfort. Passenger loading standards determine the probability that a passenger will have a seat for their trip, which is especially important for longer-distance travelers coming from outside of downtown DC into the core.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-9 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 • Service Reliability. The combined impacts of passenger loading standards on

frequency, comfort, and speed of service determine how reliable the service is considered by passengers and WMATA.

The use of passenger load standards to evaluate service was adopted by WMATA’s staff in 1982. The original standards and the evaluation process were reviewed by the Board of Directors at that time, and load standards have been employed at WMATA ever since. Load standards have been revised from time-to-time in the last 15 years to better reflect WMATA's service policies and objectives.

WMATA uses two types of passenger load standards as part of its standard fleet management practices:

• Monitoring standards. Monitoring standards are used as lagging indicators of

Metrorail performance. They are applied to current ridership data to understand if WMATA staff needs to adjust the deployment of the existing fleet to respond to changes in boarding patterns. WMATA’s primary and secondary load standards for monitoring service have been used since 1982.

• Planning standard. WMATA’s planning standard is used to determine the actual

deployment of rail cars on each line, both for existing and future ridership scenarios. The planning standard is applied to a longer time horizon than the monitoring standards, and is used by WMATA to help determine what fleet procurements may be necessary to meet the future demand for rail cars. The current planning standard was first used in determining the procurement and deployment of the 6000-Series cars.

Table 5-4 summarizes the current monitoring and planning passenger load standards being used by WMATA. As would be expected, the monitoring standards are more stringent than the planning standards, as they are being applied to historic data and are being used to prioritize fleet deployments for current operations.

TABLE 5-4: METRORAIL PASSENGER LOAD STANDARDS

Standard Notes

Monitoring Standards Peak Primary Standard: Not to exceed 120 passengers per car (PPC) average of all trains passing the maximum load point in the peak direction and in the peak one hour on a line. Peak Secondary Standard: Not to exceed 140 PPC for the peak half-hour or 155

PPC on any single train passing the maximum load point on a line during the peak period.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-10 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 5.3 LINE REQUIREMENTS

WMATA determines the revenue vehicle requirements for each line by applying the passenger load standards to the morning peak hour ridership at the maximum load point for each line. The number of trains per line are determined by the vehicle running times and frequency of service that can be sustained on each line; the number of cars per train are then determined based on (a) the passenger capacity needed for a given frequency of service; and, (b) the constraints of the vehicles in operation. Based on operating experience with each line, WMATA then determines the number and location of gap trains necessary to maintain service in the event of a disruption of service.

5.3.1 Minimum Peak Vehicle Requirements

The minimum number of vehicles required to serve the Metrorail system is determined by applying WMATA’s planning standard of 100 ppc to the maximum loading point of each line, then rounding up to the nearest even number to account for the fact that Metrorail vehicles operate in married pairs. Table 5-5 summarizes the minimum peak vehicle requirements to serve the maximum loading points for each line.

5.3.2 Vehicle Run Times

Table 5-6 lists the one-way travel times for the routes operated on each of the lines in the Metrorail system. There are three types of routes in service in the Metrorail system:

• The main line haul routes on Metrorail lines are operated from one terminal of the line to the other, stopping at all stations in between.

• Short line routes take advantage of the mid-route turnbacks (i.e. pocket tracks) built along a line to provide service closer to the core of the system, where passenger capacity is needed the most. These pocket tracks have been built as third tracks between the two mainline tracks, and each is capable of storing an 8-car train. The locations of the pocket tracks are shown in Figure 3-3; short lines are indicated in Table 5-6 as “B” routes (e.g. “Red B”, which operates between Grosvenor and Silver Spring.)

• Tripper trains are used where there is an imbalance in passenger volumes in the peak and off-peak directions of a line. For example, in 2011 the Orange Line carried a maximum load 12,200 passengers/hour in the eastbound direction but only 8,900 passengers/hour in the westbound direction. Under these conditions, WMATA operates “tripper trains” in the peak hour, peak direction to supplement the ridership capacity of regularly scheduled trains. Table 5-6 lists the existing and planned tripper trains on each line. WMATA plans to eliminate the tripper trains on the Orange Line once Phase II of the Silver Line is operational.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-11 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 TABLE 5-5: MINIMUM AM PEAK HOUR/PEAK DIRECTION VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS BY LINE

Max Loads Segments 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Gallery Place - Metro Center (Westbound) Red 132 136 140 144 148 152 156 160 166 170 174 176 178 180 182 184 Waterfront - L'Enfant (Northbound) Green 60 62 66 70 72 76 80 84 90 94 98 100 100 102 102 104 Court House – Rosslyn (Eastbound) Orange 122 126 128 130 108 108 108 108 108 108 108 110 110 112 112 114 Silver 0 0 0 0 46 48 52 58 64 70 78 80 80 80 82 82 Subtotal 122 126 128 130 154 156 160 166 172 178 186 188 190 192 194 196 Pentagon – Rosslyn (Eastbound) Blue 50 52 34 36 28 26 26 24 22 22 24 24 24 24 24 24 Pentagon - L'Enfant (Eastbound) Blue 0 0 18 18 26 26 28 30 32 32 36 36 38 38 38 38 Yellow 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 66 68 68 68 68 68 70 70 70 Subtotal 66 66 82 84 92 92 94 96 98 100 104 104 106 106 108 108 Minimum Directional Vehicle Requirements 430 442 450 464 494 502 516 530 548 564 586 592 598 604 610 616

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Vehicle travel times on the Metrorail system are currently limited by the suspension of Automatic Transit Operations (ATO), as recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in response to the June 22, 2009 accident at Ft. Totten Station. As a result of this, all vehicles are currently operated in manual mode, which slows down operations, adversely affects on-time performance, and increases maintenance for wheel flats and brake systems.

TABLE 5-6: ONE WAY TRAVEL TIMES OF METRORAIL ROUTES

Travel Time (minutes)

Origin Destination Line 2010-2013 2014-2016 2017-2025

Red

Shady Grove Glenmont Red A 65 65 65

Grosvenor Silver Spring Red B 49 49 49*

L’Enfant Junction

Yellow

Huntington Mt. Vernon Yellow A 27 27 27

Franconia Greenbelt Yellow B 60 60 60

Green

Greenbelt Branch Avenue Green 47 47 47

Greenbelt Branch Avenue Green Trippers 47 47 47

Rosslyn Junction

Blue

Franconia Largo Blue 64 64 64

Orange

Vienna New Carrollton Orange A 57 57 57

Vienna Largo Orange B 58 58

Vienna New Carrollton Tripper 57 57 57

West Falls Church New Carrollton Tripper 50 50 n/a West Falls Church Stadium-Armory Tripper 39 39 n/a

Silver

Wiehle Ave Stadium-Armory Silver Line Phase I** n/a 57 n/a Loudoun Rte. 772 Stadium-Armory Silver Line Phase II n/a n/a 78 Note: Recovery time (3 minutes per one-way trip) is not included in the run-time calculation.

*Red B discontinued in 2025, replaced with additional service on Red A.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-14 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 5.3.3 Train Consists

WMATA determines the consist length of trains based on six limiting factors:

1. Headway of service. Minimum operable headways are determined by the train control system, but practical headways are determined by a number of operating factors including capacity constraints, vehicle availability, and end-of-line recovery time for each line (currently 3 minutes per one-way trip on all routes operated.) The current and proposed headways for the Metrorail system are listed in Table 5-7.

2. Passenger loading standards. As noted in Section 5.2, the WMATA Board has established a guideline of 100 ppc during peak hours of operation, and the primary loading standard for each line is to not exceed a 120 passengers per car (PPC) average of all trains passing the maximum load point in the peak direction and in the peak one hour on a line.

3. Limitations of traction power. Thelength and frequency of trains is constrained by capacities of the system’s substations and tie breakers. Currently, WMATA has programmed upgrades to the traction power system that will allow 50% of peak-period trains to operate with eight cars. Additional upgrades will be necessary to operate additional eight-car trains.

4. Length of platforms. Each platform on the Metrorail system is 600 feet long, allowing a maximum of eight, 75-foot cars to board and alight at each station.

5. Need to operate in married pairs. Each series of cars in the WMATA fleet is designed to operate in married pairs, with a cab car at each end of the pair. Cars of different series are not capable of operating as mixed married pairs.

6. Need to operate 1000-Series cars as “belly cars.” In response to the June 2009 Ft. Totten accident, WMATA has made a decision that 1000-Series cars may only be operated as center cars in a train consist. This limits the number of cars available to serve as cab cars and requires that 1000-Series cars may only be operated in 6- or 8-car trains.

Under these constraints, WMATA currently operates 6- and 8-car consists on all Metrorail lines, which maximizes use of the 1000-Series cars while allowing WMATA to meet its passenger loading standards.

In response to the growth in ridership anticipated over the next 15 years, WMATA plans to transition to a schedule based on 100% 8-car trains, with 100% of the fleet running 8-car trains by 2020. Figure 5-4 shows the anticipated impact of 100% 8-car trains on AM peak hour passenger loads from 2010 to 2025. Table 5-8 shows the percentage of 8-car trains to be deployed on each line between 2010 and 2025.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-15 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 TABLE 5-7: CURRENT AND PROPOSED SYSTEM PEAK AM HEADWAYS

Peak AM Headways (minutes)

Origin Destination Line 2010-2013 2016* 2014- 2017-2025 Red

Shady Grove Glenmont Red A 6 6 5

Grosvenor Silver Spring Red B 6 6 5

Combined headway 3 3 2.5

L’Enfant Junction

Yellow

Huntington Mt. Vernon Yellow A 6 7 7

Franconia Greenbelt Yellow B / Blue B n/a 14 14

Combined headway 6 4.7 4.7

Green

Greenbelt Branch Avenue Green 6 7 7

Greenbelt Branch Avenue Green Trippers 20 20 20

Combined headway 4.6 5.0 5.0**

Rosslyn Junction

Blue

Franconia Largo Blue 6 14 14

Orange

Vienna New Carrollton Orange A 6 7 7

Vienna Largo Orange B n/a 14 14

Vienna New Carrollton Tripper *** n/a n/a

West Falls Church New Carrollton Tripper *** n/a n/a West Falls Church Stadium-Armory Tripper *** n/a n/a

Silver

Wiehle Ave Stadium-Armory Silver Phase I n/a 7 n/a Loudoun Rte. 772 Stadium-Armory Silver Phase II n/a n/a 7

Combined headway 3.5 2.2 2.2

Note: Headways are rounded for reporting purposes.

*Reflects interim schedule for operating Dulles Phase I. See Appendix B for detailed explanation.

**In 2025, WMATA proposes to operate the Green Line at 5-minute headways in each direction and remove tripper trains.

***Unless noted otherwise, trippers are not considered to have a regular, bi-directional headway, as they are only operated in the peak direction. They are included in the calculation of combined headways.

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Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 5-16 Metrorail Fleet Management Plan – Revision 4G August 2012 FIGURE 5-4: AM PEAK HOUR PASSENGER LOADS-100 % 8-CARS IN 2020 AND 2025

Assume 25% 8-car trains in 2009, 50% in 2015 and 100% in 2020 and 2025

TABLE 5-8: PROPOSED CONSIST LENGTHS AS PERCENTAGE OF SCHEDULED TRAINS

% of 8-car trains

Origin Destination Line 2010-2013 2016* 2014- 2017-2019 2020-2025 Red

Shady Grove Glenmont Red A _70% _78% _79% _100%

Grosvenor Silver Spring Red B _n/a _0% _13% _100% L’Enfant Junction

Yellow

Huntington Mt. Vernon Yellow A _0% _44% _56% _100% Franconia Greenbelt Yellow B / Blue B _n/a _0% _56% _100%

Green

Greenbelt Branch Avenue Green _50% _40% _66% _100% Rosslyn Junction

Blue

Franconia Largo Blue _0% _40% _50% _100%

Orange

Vienna New Carrollton Orange A _30% _39% _50% _100%

Vienna Largo Orange B _0% _56% _100%

Silver

Wiehle Ave Stadium-Armory Silver Phase I _n/a _0% _n/a _n/a Loudoun Rte. 772 Stadium-Armory Silver Phase II _n/a _n/a _50% _100%

Gap Trains 0% 0% 0% 100%

Total: All lines** 30% 28% 50% 100%

Source: WMATA Office of Long Range Planning

*Reflects interim schedule for operating Dulles Phase I. See Appendix B for detailed explanation. **Includes tripper trains

Line AM Peak Max Load Location 2009 2015 2020 2025

Red Leaving Gallery Place (Westbound)

Blue (Rosslyn) Leaving Pentagon (Eastbound)

Orange/Silver Leaving Court House (Eastbound)

Yellow/Blue Leaving Pentagon (Northbound)

Green Leaving Waterfront (Southbound)

Highly Congested (110-120 PPC) Congested (<100 PPC)

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Figure 5-5 illustrates how passenger loads in the AM peak hour would be affected if WMATA were only to implement 50% 8-car trains for the same time period. Under this scenario, the Metrorail system will reach its peak-hour capacity sometime between 2020 and 2025. The Orange and Dulles Lines will become the most congested lines by then, exceeding the capacity threshold of 120 passengers per car at Court House in the peak hour, to be followed by Green Line at Waterfront.

FIGURE 5-5: AM PEAK HOUR PASSENGER LOADS - 50% 8-CARS THROUGH 2025

Assume 25% 8-car trains in 2009 and 50% in 2015 through 2025.

At this time, funding has been committed to bring the fleet up to 50% 8-car trains. Additional improvements will be required to transition to a 100% 8-car train schedule, including: additional space for storage, maintenance, and vehicle testing; improvements to traction power; and the additional vehicles to operate longer train consists. These

improvements are programmed in the 2011-2020 Capital Needs Inventory; the fleet

requirements associated with these improvements are documented in Section 6.0. 5.3.4 In-Service Vehicle Requirement

WMATA determines in-service vehicle requirements by determining the number and composition of trains necessary to meet the minimum peak vehicle requirement defined in Section 5.3.1. As noted in Section 5.3.3, Metrorail trains are deployed in 6- and 8-car consists; therefore, the number of cars necessary to meet the demands of peak hour, peak direction service often differs from the minimum peak vehicle requirement. Table 5-9 illustrates how the in-service vehicle requirements are determined for the maximum loading point of each line, and the resulting passenger loads.

Peak period in-service vehicle requirements are then developed from peak hour, peak direction vehicle requirements, taking into account the need to operate multiple routes on each line (tripper trains and short lines) to handle service in both peak and off-peak directions. Table 5-10 summarizes by line the in-service vehicle requirements necessary to meet the capacity requirements of the maximum load points on each line during the

Line AM Peak Max Load Location 2009 2015 2020 2025

Car Consists 50% 50% 50% Red Leaving Gallery Place (Westbound)

Blue (Rosslyn) Leaving Pentagon (Eastbound)

Orange/Silver Leaving Court House (Eastbound)

Yellow/Blue Leaving Pentagon (Northbound)

Green Leaving Waterfront (Southbound)

Congested (<100 PPC) Highly Congested (<110-120

METRORAIL. Fleet Management Plan

METRORAIL

Fleet Management Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

1

INTRODUCTION

2

DEFINITION OF ACRONYMS AND TERMS

3

EXISTING SYSTEM

4

EXPANSION PLAN

5

DEMAND FOR REVENUE VEHICLES