Zennlee_ t1_ith4aab wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:42 PM

Reply to comment by bFallen in New 8000 series Metro trains will have heated floors and charging outlets by Yaratam

Exactly! I'd rather WMATA nail the basic things first like making the tracks and trains more reliable, and also putting more trains on the tracks before doing anything else. As more putting more trains, I would want them to fix the safety issues first for the 7000s before announcing this buying of the 8000s trains.

bFallen t1_ith5dhg wrote on October 23, 2022 at 4:49 PM

Yup yup, and I’d pay a higher fare if they made it more reliable too. Still a lot cheaper than an Uber.

Another thing I think could help is the Rail + Property model that the Hong Kong MTR uses. They are actually profitable because they develop the real estate around metro stations, and the developed real estate generates positive externalities since it makes metro stops more attractive places for people to go. Obviously it’s not a system that you can just implement easily but for a metro system with financial issues but a population that shows demand for better transit, it’s worth investigating how elements of the model might be applicable.

flyerfanatic93 t1_itl914h wrote on October 24, 2022 at 2:03 PM

This already exists in WMATA. Look up WMATA Transit Oriented Development.

MindStalker t1_ithkdix wrote on October 23, 2022 at 6:26 PM

Seems as though the design of the 7000 were broken from the start.

Everyone wants the trains to run more often, the only way to do that is to buy more trains. They can't buy any more old train models, they simply don't exist. The 7000s are too heavy and aren't the correct width.