WMATA wants longer trains, more tunnels, better service
WMATA
hopes to lengthen all its trains to 8 cars, add pedestrian connections
at downtown stations, and maybe build new rail tunnels for the Blue and
Yellow Lines in the region's core. That's part of
a strategic plan
which its media relations team showed only to the Washington Post this
week, and which board members will see at a meeting today.
The potential for new downtown tunnels (left) and connections between existing lines (right).
More broadly, the agency will focus on safety, service quality,
better regional mobility, and its own financial stability in the
strategic plan. Besides a set of still somewhat amorphous connections
and service improvements, the plan calls for building a system where
riders can more easily "plan, pay, and ride" in a smoother customer
experience.
The big money, up to $20 billion, in the plan would be for
tunnels to separate the Blue Line at Rosslyn and the Yellow Line at
L'Enfant Plaza, the two major chokepoints, as part of a vision for Metro
by 2040. Silver Line trains from Dulles Airport could also turn at
Rosslyn to go toward Arlington Cemetery, then stop at Pentagon before
crossing the Yellow Line bridge into DC.
Map by the author, from 2009.
By 2025, Metro wants to have the railcars and power stations to run
all trains with the full 8 cars. It would like to build pedestrian
tunnels to link Farragut North with West and Metro Center with Gallery
Place, and a train tunnel so that some Dulles trains can go down to
Franconia-Springfield, which would relieve some of the immediate Blue
Line problems of Rush Plus, which will only get worse once the Silver
Line opens. . . .
C
lick here to read the rest of this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are welcome and encouraged as long as they are relevant, constructive, and decent.