Green Line Getting More Eight-Car Trains

Today through Friday, Metro is testing eight-car trains that it plans to add into service on the Green Line. During the test, all trains on the Green Line -- no matter how long -- will stop at the end of each platform.

[A Yellow Line rider who boarded at Crystal City heading for Mount Vernon Square said his train also stopped at the end of the platform, something Metro had not warned us about. He said one of his colleagues had the same experience boarding at King Street.]

The transit authority says this operation is about testing upgrades to power systems, tracks and rail cars. Watch the electronic display boards on the platforms that show how many cars are in the approaching train. An eight-car train fills the entire platform. If a six-car train stops at the platform end, people farther back will have to walk forward to board.

Metro said its plan is to expand three of the six-car trains now in service on the Green Line to eight-car trains during peak hours. That will bring the total of eight-car trains on the Green to 10. The remaining six-car train used during peak periods will serve as a standby train, held in reserve in case another train has to be taken out of service.

At off-peak times, all Green Line trains will operate with eight-cars.