Photo by Adam Fagen.

With the Silver Line scheduled to begin service on July 26, Blue Line riders are preparing for longer waits during rush hour.

While Metro still plans to run fewer Blue Line trains during peak hours after July 21, the agency now says up to half of those trains will have eight cars. “The additional cars will provide capacity for Blue Line riders, where two trains per hour will be converted from Blue to Yellow trains to accommodate the Silver Line,” according to a release. This conversion will increase the wait time from an average of 8.5 minutes* to 12.

The number of 8-car trains will be determined “based on maintenance requirements and operational factors.” All Yellow and Silver line trains will have six cars. At the moment, one Blue Line train out of 12 has eight cars during rush hour. That number will increase to six at a maximum.

*Clarification: At the moment, trains alternate between six and 12 minute wait times for an average of 8.5 minutes.