Metro is ramping up service across much of the rail system starting today, promising “an infusion of trains.” This comes as ridership has been on the upswing, hitting new post-pandemic records, and as the transit system has been allowed to bring back more 7000-series railcars.

Starting today, trains will come every 12 minutes on the Silver, Blue, and Orange lines during weekday rush hours (6-9 a.m. and 3-6 p.m.). In areas where these lines overlap, between Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory, riders can expect trains every 3 minutes. Off-peak, trains on these lines will arrive every 15 minutes.

Starting Saturday, March 25, service on the Red Line will increase, with trains every 8 minutes, all day, seven days a week until 9:30 p.m. (up from just rush hours and midweek). Service on the Green Line will remain unchanged, with trains coming every 8 minutes, all day, seven days a week.

The Yellow Line is still out of operation, as Metro conducts bridge and tunnel rehabilitation where trains cross the Potomac River, between the L’Enfant Plaza and Pentagon stations. Stations on the Yellow Line will continue to be served by the Blue and Green lines through May.

Rail ridership has been setting new post-pandemic records “almost daily,” according to Metro: last Wednesday there were more than 337,000 trips — the highest daily total since early 2020.  On Thursday there were more than 335,000 trips, the second highest number since the pandemic. Ridership is still substantially lower than it used to be: there was an average of 639,000 daily trips in February 2020, the month before pandemic lockdowns began. Ridership hit an all-time low in April 2020, with just 36,000 lonely, masked individuals braving the transit system each day.

Metro has been incrementally increasing service for months, following a Blue Line derailment in October 2021 that resulted in no deaths or injuries. After the derailment, Metro removed all 7000-series railcars from service. In January, safety regulators allowed Metro to enter its latest phase of returning those cars to service, with a requirement for wheel inspections on the railcars every seven days.

In the longer term, Metro is in the process of replacing the wheel assemblies on all 7000-series cars. It will cost $55 million and take as long as 36 months to replace all 5,984 wheels on the 2,992 axles of the 748 railcars, according to the transit agency.