Almost a year after the National Transportation Safety Board scolded WMATA for failing to heed advice to remove its oldest rail cars from service, the transit agency's board has voted unanimously to approve the purchase of brand new replacement cars.
Metro Board Approves Replacement of 1000-Series Rail Cars
Metro Makes Rail Car ID Numbers Easier to Read
WMATA on Wednesday let the public in on a project it's been working on for a few months now -- replacing each rail car identification number with a larger, more visible version.
More Eight-Car Trains on Green and Red Lines
Do you have trouble getting a seat on Metro in the morning? On Monday, that could get at least a little bit easier. Regular Red and Green line passengers will find additional eight-car trains running during peak hours, thanks to the 20 additional rail cars Metro plans to put into service next week.
Metro Nixes Bench Seating on Railcars
Back in early December, Metro began testing a trio of new railcar designs that offered different seating and handlebar configurations. Some of Metro's newer car designs, especially the ones that removed vertical bars to create more passenger standing room, have proved very popular with riders. At least one change, however, has already been dumped by Metro: bench seating, as seen in the photo at right, will not be incorporated into future rail cars, WTOP reports.
The Future of Metro Rail Cars
WMATA sent around these nifty design images earlier today of what future Metro rail cars might look like. Dave Kubicek, Metro's Assistant General Manager for Metrorail, is leading the development of designs of the 7000 Series rail cars.

