Update: Metro trains on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines will no longer run every 25 minutes, as previously announced. Trains will continue to arrive every 15 minutes, WMATA said Monday afternoon. The Washington Metrorail Safety Commission granted Metro a temporary stay of a directive related to rail operator training after Metro filed a formal appeal. A safety commission spokesperson said the stay will remain in place through Tuesday, Jan. 24. The independent regulatory body is still considering its petition to return more 7000-series trains to service, according to WMATA.

Original: Metro is cutting back service on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines for the rest of the week after a series of directives from safety regulators. Its plan to put more trains back on the tracks is also on hold.

Starting Tuesday, Blue, Orange, and Silver Line trains will run every 25 minutes this week, up from every 15 minutes. While this service change will have only a short-term impact on riders, broader service improvements will likely be stalled for months as Metro works with regulators to get approval to bring back more 7000-series trains.

Metro officials announced Monday they are appealing the orders from the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, an independent regulatory body.

“These directives unfairly and unnecessarily impact our ability to provide the service our customers and region deserve, without adding any safety improvement,” said Metro General Manager Randy Clarke, visibly frustrated during a press conference on Monday. “While we fundamentally disagree with the WMSC directives, we will comply.”

The orders from the safety commission have to do with train operator training and inspections of 7000-series railcars, which have been mostly out of commission since a derailment on the Blue Line in October, 2021. No passengers were injured during the incident, but its aftermath continues to dog efforts to improve rail service.

Metro had been poised to put more 7000-series trains on the tracks in the coming days, as part of a plan approved by WMSC in October. To accomplish this, Metro planned to dial back its regular inspections of trains from every four days to every seven days. The time-consuming inspections mean fewer trains to carry passengers. Now, per the WMSC directives, the plan to alter the inspection schedule is paused indefinitely.

The safety commission also raised concerns about training, writing on Twitter that Metro has been “ignoring its train operator training requirements.”

Metro officials forcefully denied that accusation.

“Every operator is required to have 38 hours of training after 11 weeks of classroom and yard before they can go for their exam. Every operator has done that,” Clarke said. He added that Metrorail operators are required to receive 60% more training hours than operators at comparable transit agencies around the country, according to research by Metro staff.

At issue is exactly how those training hours are divvied up: previously operators had to complete 8 hours of training on the rail lines with an instructor, operating an empty train with no passengers, plus 30 hours with an instructor operating an in-service train. Because of the lack of available trains, Metro officials decided to allow operators to complete some of the 8 hours training on in-service trains with instructors, rather than in empty trains. Passengers or no passengers, operators still had to log a total of 38 hours.

The WMSC directive applies to 54 train operators, who will now receive additional training in the coming days, according to Clarke. They’ll be pulled off passenger trains to again practice operating non-passenger trains, requiring Metro to cut back passenger service.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials acknowledged they should have done a better job communicating about the training change with regulators.

“We did not formally notify the WMSC of this change, nor am I aware of a requirement for us to formally notify the WMSC of this change,” said Theresa Impastato, Metro’s chief of safety and readiness. “That being said, I will concede that WMATA could have done a much better job documenting the basis for decision making, as well as documenting the review of the impacts of this change and sharing that information with the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.”

Metro’s appeal of the directives sends the decision back to the same regulators who made it, as there is no independent entity to consider appeals.

“It makes no sense to appeal a decision to the entity that made the decision,” complained Metro Board Member Matt Letourneau of Loudoun County.

Board Chair Paul Smedberg went further, saying that the relationship between Metro and the independent safety commission is “structurally untenable.” Rather than issuing directives that would stymie rail service, board members said the commission should work with Metro in a more collaborative way in order to keep the trains running while keeping passengers safe.

Smedberg issued a plea to the jurisdictions Metro serves in D.C., Maryland. and Virginia to “help mediate a process to move the relationship forward,” between the transit agency and the safety commission.

A spokesperson for WMSC did not respond to a request for comment before publication.