Delegate Jim LeMunyon sent a letter to WMATA CEO Richard Sarles regarding the new Silver Line that opened to great fanfare in Northern Virginia. While LeMunyon likes the effort, there is a rather large problem: the Silver Line is composed of trains taken from the existing Orange and Blue Lines. So while the metro system now has more track, and potentially many more riders, its capacity has not increased.
That can be overcome by WMATA buying more trains, right?
As you are aware, the reason for no net increase in service is due to the fact that the Potomac River Metrorail tunnel was already at its capacity of 26 trains per hour during peak periods prior to the construction of the Silver Line, and remains so today.
That is a fundamental problem that will require a great deal of time and money to fix. The full text of LeMunyon’s letter appears below:
