Metro Reasons

This story originally appeared on Greater Greater Washington . Metro runs trains which are either six or eight cars in length; the latter cost more to run but can move more riders. With a recent budget increase, the Yellow and Green lines are supposed to have only eight-car trains running on them now, but the number of these longer trains has fallen in recent months, according to Metro data analyzed by MetroHero. The drop corresponded with the six-station Platform Improvement Project shutdown on the Blue and Yellow lines that began on May 25, 2019. Turns out, there’s a reason for that. Read more on Greater Greater Washington.

This story originally appeared on Greater Greater Washington. Arlington County staff have been given the ‘go-ahead’ to move forward with planning a second entrance at the Ballston Metro station, according to project manager Bee Buergler, but it could be another five years before it actually comes to fruition. The project is over 15 years in the planning, but until recently it’s been held up because the building that would be above it was being redeveloped and ran into delays. The Ballston West project would add a brand new mezzanine inside the rail station, as well as elevators and either escalators or stairs on the south side of the street. The design phase is expected to take two more years, and construction could take three, assuming the county fully funds the project. The entrance would be located at 4420 Fairfax Drive at Vermont Street near Glebe Road. Read more on Greater Greater Washington.

This story originally appeared on Greater Greater Washington . A plan submitted by developer JBG Smith to Arlington County could see the company put in charge of building the second Crystal City Metro station entrance, a long-sought-after project that would increase access to the station. If approved, the new entrance would be built along Crystal Drive near 18th street, providing riders a quicker connection to the proposed new VRE Crystal City station and to offices and residences in the area. A copy of the submitted proposal was made available to Greater Greater Washington for review. Read more on Greater Greater Washington.

The number of eight-car trains on the Yellow and Green Line trains is falling, according to data from Metro analyzed by MetroHero . Both lines are budgeted for 100% eight-car trains, according to the agency's Fiscal Year 2020 budget. I was on one 8-car train last week. Have noticed a decline on the YL as well #wmata https://t.co/yqDgeDvpkt — TKBlueline (@tkblueline) July 22, 2019 Metro announced back in March 2018 that the agency was lengthening trains on the two lines to eight cars 'whenever possible.' The change was in response to service cuts the prior year when trains began running every six minutes instead of every eight, and Yellow Line 'Rush Plus' service to Greenbelt was discontinued. The two lines combined averaged approximately 20 eight-car trains for all of April and May. Starting around June, the number of eight-car trains began dropping; the third week of July averaged just 17 eight-car trains during morning and afternoon rush hours when 22 t...

Metro announced Sunday, July 21 that 'repairs to the chiller system that provides cool air' at Union Station were 'COMPLETED overnight, sooner than expected.' The agency had told DCist on July 18 that they hoped the cool air would be back 'within one or two weeks.' Good news for our Union Station customers: Repairs to the chiller system that provides cool air to the station were COMPLETED overnight, sooner than expected. The system is back online, and you should feel a difference starting today! #wmata — Metro (@wmata) July 21, 2019 While the exact date that the chiller broke isn't readily available, tweets from @Metrorailinfo, one of Metro's official Twitter accounts, began confirming on May 30 to riders that the station's chillers were offline due to a leak in a pipe which ran through Amtrak property. Fans were placed in the station and turned on to keep air circulating. Fans have been placed throughout the station. We hope to have r...

This post was originally published on Greater Greater Washington Metro’s shuttle buses are handling crowds well during the Yellow and Blue Line shutdown and ridership is higher than expected, upbeat Metro staff said when they briefed the agency’s Riders’ Advisory Council (RAC) last Wednesday. After an initial ridership surge, staff say the shuttles have ‘settled down’ to carrying 125,000 trips per week. The six Yellow and Blue Line stations in Virginia south of National Airport closed on May 25 to allow Metro and its contractor, Kiewit, to rebuild station platforms and perform other work in the area. Five bus bridges were set up to temporarily replace train service until September 9, when the stations are currently scheduled to reopen. Read more on Greater Greater Washington

A man was hit by an Orange Line Metro train as it arrived into the Dunn Loring Metro station heading for Vienna on Tuesday, July 17th. Metro Transit Police say the man " intentionally placed himself on the track as [the] train entered the station" around 1:48pm. Fairfax County Fire Department personnel responded to the station around 2pm and removed the man from under the train. He was transported to a local hospital . Orange Line trains offloaded and turned around at West Falls Church heading back in the direction of New Carrollton, while a shuttle train ran between Vienna and West Falls Church on the inbound track throughout the duration of the incident. Normal train service was restored at Dunn Loring at around 4:25pm when the first Orange Line train to Vienna entered the station on the normal outbound track. Update: Metro has confirmed to Patch that the man hit by the train died later once being taken to the hospital.