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Tag: Metro Rail

Metro announces next general manager, CEO

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s new general manager and CEO is Randy Clarke, the current president and CEO of Austin, Texas’ Capital Metro.

The board of the authority, which runs Metrorail and Metrobus, announced Tuesday that Clarke will assume the position in late summer. Metro’s current general manager and CEO, Paul J. Wiedefeld, announced in January that he would retire June 30 after six years with Metro.

Clarke, who has served as president and CEO of CapMetro since March 2018 and led a multibillion-dollar expansion of Austin’s public transportation system, comes to Washington during a challenging time for Metro, which has faced declined ridership during the pandemic and the suspension of more than half of its train car fleet due to malfunctions last fall.

Before joining CapMetro, Clarke was vice president of operations and member services at the American Public Transportation Association, where he led safety audits and industry peer reviews, and he held several roles at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, beginning in 2009. He served as the chief safety officer, director of security and emergency management and deputy chief operating officer.

“I am honored to be selected as the next general manager/CEO of Metro and want to thank the WMATA board for their confidence in me to help lead this amazing organization through a critical time in its future,” Clarke said in a statement. “As a fellow transit customer, I will be focused on delivering the safe, reliable and customer-centric transit service that this region deserves. I look forward to meeting with staff, customers, stakeholders and community members to learn more about how we can collectively build a bright future together.”

Metro is currently working on three mixed-use projects near the West Falls Church station that will comprise more than 3.2 million square feet. In April, WMATA released its first-ever strategic plan for joint development that includes creating 26,000 housing units in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.

The Metro has had delays and difficulties with its service since October 2021, when a wheel problem caused a derailment. In January, WMATA suspended its 748 7000 series rail cars, about 60% of its fleet.

However, on Monday there was some good news: Metro announced its total ridership was nearly 40% ahead of projections for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2022. In March, average weekday rail ridership peaked Tuesday through Thursday at 230,000, and average bus ridership at 280,000. Metrobus has now hit 61% of its pre-pandemic ridership levels.

Metro to keep reduced service levels through end of year

Metro customers will see reduced rail service through the end of the year, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced Monday.

The transit system authority attributed the disruption to its 7000-series fleet, the newest rail cars, still being out of service. These trains make up much of Metro’s fleet but have been sidelined since October.

Metro faced its biggest crisis in six years after the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission ordered it to suspend all 748 of its 7000-series rail cars on Oct. 17 following the derailment of a Blue Line train. The suspension has removed about 60% of Metro’s cars from service and the WMATA had to bring out of storage about 40 rail cars, some nearly 40 years.  Initially, officials thought the new 7000-series cars would be back in service within weeks. Metro submitted a testing plan to its oversight agency that would check rail cars every eight days for a wheel defect that has afflicted several of the newer cars over the past four years, The Washington Post reported.

“Engineers, safety and operations teams are preparing return to service and mobilization plans to reposition more than 748, 7000-series railcars,” WMATA wrote in a news release. “The railcars that have been in storage will need to be prepared for service and inspected more frequently once they are back in passenger service.”

Nearly 75% of Metro stations have trains arriving at least every 10 to 12 minutes. More frequent service will depend on available railcars meeting safety standards.

“As we get more parts, we will return more of the [older] railcars to service for our customers during December,” said Metro General Manager and CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld in a statement. “While we know service is not as frequent as customers would prefer, we will add each train as it becomes available to help incrementally improve service reliability and frequency.”
Rail service for next year depends on Metro’s test and restoration plans for the 7000-series railcars, which will require approval from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.