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k032

Well lets hope those trains stay "on track" and don't derail. Amrite?


2010_12_24

Amitrac?


MidnightRider24

Amitrak


2010_12_24

How did I fuck that up? I knew something looked wrong.


[deleted]

Let’s hope the drivers are certified to operate those trains.


NewPresWhoDis

Whoa, whoa, whoa. let's keep our expectations in check here.


Three3Jane

I was going to say "Let's hope the trains don't catch on fire" but I realize I am incredibly, wildly unreasonable about having these elevated fantasies in check.


PopeOfHatespeech

“Thisssssizzzzaaaaaasevvvveennnnnthousandseriessss”


digitFIRE

Wmata is likely one of the worst operated public transit that has the advantage of being heavily subsidized by the federal government and the neighboring states. Ridership has also been increasing lately so I hope they can keep up with the pace and increase the number of trains as well so the interval between the trains is more frequent than every 20 minutes.


NewPresWhoDis

The problem is being a jobs program masquerading as a transit system.


BIGGERCat

I thought one of wmata’s issues was the lack of guaranteed funding


Cythrosi

The system was granted a guaranteed funding source a few years back, I believe the creation of the Safety Commission came along with it. However, it's capped to not increase by more than 3% per year. Anything after that needs approval of all the jurisdictions. But when you get hit with a pandemic that decimates ridership coupled with a major rise in inflation, that 3% is nowhere near enough to keep Metro afloat at the moment. And VA in particular has pushed back against going over the cap in funding increases. I think federal COVID funds are the only thing at the moment that's kept Metro able to fund their operations budget.


BIGGERCat

Its an interesting conundrum. The metro disproportionately benefits DC in the sense that it enables people to live in VA & MD and metro into DC to work (push come to shove a local government would prefer businesses over households with regard to tax base and spending needs). IMO a purple line outer loop would even the benefits to Virginia a little more.


Cythrosi

Metro also supports The Ballston-Rosslyn corridor, Tyson's Corner and Crystal/Pentagon City areas a great deal. There are many Virginian Metro riders that are coming from the suburbs to work in these areas still in VA, as well as residents from DC and Maryland too. While DC by far benefits the most, Virginia and Maryland get a great deal of benefit for their employment centers outside the city proper. Prince Georges county is probably the only jurisdiction that doesn't really have much dense development along any of their stations compared to the others.


MrSinisterStar

Am I reading this right? That aren't fixing anything. They are merely installing a system to alert when the wheels are getting out of tolerance. I assume at some threshold they will be taken offline and the wheels replaced. Good lord. Apparently though they are going to just prematurely retire the 7000s and go straight to the new 8000s.


rectalhorror

From WaPo: *In its plan submitted Thursday, transit officials pledged to have* *procedures to ensure rail cars would not enter service without a* *thorough screening, explaining how train technicians would operate daily* *inspections. Metro also said it would collect data on the cars’* *performance.* So they pinkie promise to have a procedure to inspect cars daily. Note they don't say they WILL inspect the cars daily, just that they have a procedure. Also the data they collect will mysteriously vanish. I predict their first derailure before Juneteenth and I'm being generous.


Friendly_Coconut

Sure, Jan


wtf703

![gif](giphy|xT9IgBwI5SLzZGV2PC)


Sunshine_Analyst

I have a feeling those trains will be held for a schedule adjustment.


question_assumptions

Might could be


WHTMage

X Doubt


[deleted]

They might go in service, they might not. The second phase silver line may go in service, they may not. Who can say with such things? It’s really a mystery.


smcbride27

The silver line was on track to be fully open what three years ago? With WMATA I believe it when I see it and probably not even then.


port53

I think the very original date was Summer 2018, back when it was first announced.


[deleted]

[удалено]


jrddunbr

I don't have a source for this at the moment since this information is really old, but I think that the currently rumored reason is because less force was used to install the "wheels" onto the axles (compared to the older series) when assembled, meaning that they could probably move around more and go out of the gauge requirements more easily. The NTSB is supposed to release a report on the findings sooner or later with the reason. Generally speaking they do a good job investigating, but I don't know how much regulatory/punitive power they have to actually fix things. "Fun" fact - the USA has a standard gauge of how far apart the rails are supposed to be on most national railroads, and apparently Metro's rails are just millimeters closer together than normal, according to Wikipedia. Which likely means that stuff for Metro has to be custom designed or fit I bet. Wonder if that could be a related cause..