(Photo by Aimee Custis)

Metro riders will see previously approved fare hikes, shorter hours, and service cuts starting on June 25.

The changes, WMATA says, “are part of an effort to rightsize service, close a budget gap and provide needed time for new categories of preventive maintenance to improve safety and reliability.”

One of biggest questions was whether or not trains would return to regular operating hours once SafeTrack ends in June. The board eventually backed Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld’s position that reducing service is necessary to complete a backlog of maintenance work.

Under the current hours, the system opens at 5 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. on weekends, and closes at midnight. When the new schedule kicks in, Metro will close earlier on weeknights, later on Friday and Saturday nights, and reduce Sunday service by two hours.

Here are the most important changes:

• Fares are up: It will now cost a minimum of $2.25 to ride Metrorail during peak hours and a minimum of $2 for off-peak trips. Bus fares will rise from $1.75 to $2 (weekly bus passes will stay at the current price of $17.50, though)
• Headways are longer: During Metro’s busiest hours, trains will run every eight minutes from the end of each line instead of every six (off-peak headways are staying the same)
• Some good news: Blue Line service will be more frequent (it is currently every 12 minutes) and Metro is adding trains between the Red Line’s Grosvenor and Silver Spring, for service every 4 minutes
• Yellow Rush+ is no more: Trains will run between Huntington and Mt Vernon Square during peak periods and between Huntington and Fort Totten at other times
• New service hours: From Monday through Thursday, the system will run from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. It will be open on Fridays from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. On Sundays, Metro will run from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.