The Finance and
Administration Committee of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
(WMATA) voted to end turnbacks at the Grosvernor Metrorail Station beginning in
summer 2018. Currently during the peak period, only half of the Red Line trains
from the District of Columbia continue to the line’s end at Shady Grove. The
other half of the cars turn around at Grosvenor. For more than 10 years, ending
the turnbacks at Grosvenor has been a transit priority for Montgomery County.
The action will become final if approved at the WMATA Board Meeting on June 25.
The Finance and
Administration Committee recommended to the WMATA Board that it approve the
purchase of new 7000 series rail cars, which will allow 28 cars to be used to
end the turnbacks at Grosvenor station.
Again this year in the
County’s FY2015-2020 Consolidated Transportation Program priorities, the County
identified as its priorities the need for funding to operate eight-car trains,
eliminate the Red Line turnbacks at Grosvenor and Silver Spring and expand the
existing station platform circulation capacity to accommodate existing and
projected riders. To accommodate the eight-car trains, the Finance and
Administration Committee also recommended approval of power upgrades on the Red
Line that will begin in 2021.
In April, Montgomery
County Department of Transportation Acting Director Al Roshdieh sent a letter
to Maryland Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary James Ports urging
the State’s support for elimination of the turnbacks. In the letter, Roshdieh
stated, “New rail car investments should be directed to first eliminate the Red
Line turnbacks at Grosvenor and then followed by the elimination of the
turnbacks at Silver Spring. The western leg of the Red Line is a vital
component of the economic development strategy along the MD 355 and I-270
corridor and will support significant levels of both employment and population
growth.”
