All of Metro’s 7000 series trains have been pulled from service, following last week’s derailment in Arlington, leading to major delays this morning.
Metro announced last night that its newest generation of railcars was being held out of service. Investigators appear to believe that the 7000 series has an issue with defective axles, which may have led to the derailment between the Arlington Cemetery and Rosslyn stations.
The WMSC says the derailed 7000-series car's axle was "out of compliance" with the car's technical specifications.
Worse, the same out of compliance issue was found on other cars.
Hence, all 7000's are now out of service. #wmata pic.twitter.com/Mr8hyg17zB
— Metro Reasons (@MetroReasons) October 18, 2021
This could be an extended problem for Metro, depending on what’s found upon further inspections of the railcars. The National Transportation Safety Board will be holding a media briefing today at 10 a.m. to discuss its investigation into the derailment.
In the meantime, Metro said that trains will run about every half-hour while the 7000 series is out of service. Via social media, passengers are reporting full trains this morning and even longer delays.
Here's your live look-in on the red line this morning. pic.twitter.com/DodGQWxslS
— Soul Devour (@Nasura_) October 18, 2021
Monday’s Metro Mess: Nearly an hour for a Red Line train to arrive. And, of course, major delays means packed trains.@nbcwashington @AdamTuss pic.twitter.com/WyhsG8kATP
— Vince Lattanzio (@VinceLattanzio) October 18, 2021
As customers experience delays and full rail cars during their commute, please know we have made a concerted effort to improve airflow. Face masks continue to be required throughout the system, and Metrorail cars recycle the air approximately every three minutes.
— Metro (@wmata) October 18, 2021
We’re wondering how today’s issues are affecting your commute. Did you stick with Metro, make other plans, or were you not riding Metro in the first place?
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