Photo by army.arch

Four and half months after the fatal June 22 Red Line crash and much to the relief of frustrated commuters, Metro announced today that Red Line service near the Fort Totten station has returned to normal. From the press release:

Red Line trains are no longer traveling at reduced speeds or taking turns moving one at a time between the Fort Totten and Takoma Metrorail stations. Maintenance program repairs in the Fort Totten Metrorail station area have been implemented, including replacing original track equipment dating back to the 1970s.

Metro has increased capacity on the Red Line by operating more trains during the morning and afternoon rush hour periods. The number of trains has increased from 38 trains to 44 trains.

Note though that track circuit repair work continues near the Takoma and Silver Spring stations. That work will force trains to share one track between those two stations from 10 p.m. until closing, Sunday through Thursday nights for the next four to six weeks. WMATA says, however, that since trains operate only every 15 to 20 minutes during those times, customers are unlikely to experience delays.

Despite this development, WMATA says all Metrorail trains continue to be operated in manual mode until further notice, so no relief yet for those jerky stops and starts.