Community Corner

VIDEO: Tour of Metro's New 7000-Series Railcar

Metro: New railcars will bring transit authority closer to meeting standards set by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Metro's new 7000-series railcars are getting closer to being a reality; the first car should pull into stations in 2013. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) has filmed General Manager Richard Sarles giving a tour of the new cars, fancy blue-and-gray decor and all.

The new 7000-series railcars will replace the 1000-series cars – the oldest in Metro’s fleet – and comply with recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board, according to a WMATA news release.

Metro's first order from Kawasaki Rail Car is for 364 units, which will be manufactured in Lincoln, Neb. Three hundred of the new cars will be one-for-one replacements of the 1000-series cars. The remaining new cars will be used to advance the expansion of Metro as the system continues to progress on its new Silver Line to Dulles.

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One of the more helpful features of the new cars are digital signs that show information about the next station and help riders track their progress by listing the next several stations ahead.

Maybe, just maybe, this will result in fewer families of tourists rushing in a panic to make a last-second transfer at Metro Center – only to have the doors close, leaving half of them still en route to Chinatown. (Maybe.)

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"When you look at this car, you look at Washington Metro's future," Sarles says in the video.


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