"The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) operates the second busiest transit system in the US, serving the District of Columbia and surrounding counties in Maryland and Virginia. The system is referred to as Metrorail or Metro. The system opened in March of 1976 and continues to expand. There are six lines (Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow, & Silver). There are over 100 miles of standard gauge track, with more than 1000 vehicles operating on 750 Vdc third rail. Vehicles are designated by series number, according to when they were procured. The 1000 series cars were the first ones procured. The 7000 series cars are the most recently procured." - WMATA statement (Jan 24, 2017).
It has recently come to my attention via an inside source that WMATA coaches 1000 and 1001 have been removed from service and are now in long-term storage for historical purposes. WMATA coaches 1000-01 are significant for multiple reasons. First, they are the oldest rail cars on the Metrorail system, being the very first cars delivered back in 1974. Second, they have the distinction of being the only cars on the Metrorail system that were built by hand. The cars are 75' long and can only be operated in pairs (therefore it wouldn't make any sense to only save one unit). Thirdly, the 1000s were the only Metro coaches actually delivered by rail. The Rohr built coaches were delivered by the B&O via their Brentwood Yard in Washington D.C. Today, fewer than 100 of the original 300 unit order remain in operation and the Metro General Manager has promised to remove all 1000 and 4000 series cars from service by the end of the year. All other retired coaches have been trucked to a scrap yard in Baltimore.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143969423 ... otostream/
This should serve as some good news for a passenger system that has been heavily bogged down with bad news. An official Metro press release should be coming out within the next couple of days. I'll be curious to see if these cars are retained by Metro or if they are given to a museum (IIRC, the National Capitol Trolley Museum has expressed an interest in a 1000 series car). Top photo credit: WMATA Archives. Bottom photo credit: P. Darmody.
-Andrew
Casual Metro Observor
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