WASHINGTON — DC Metrorail has retired its 2000-series railcars, the oldest equipment in its fleet.
The cars’ last day of service was Friday, May 10, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority said in a press release. The cars, built by Italy’s Breda with final assembly in Beech Grove, Ind., debuted in 1983, arriving about two years late because of factory issues in West Germany and a strike at a brake factory in Wilmerding, Pa. WMATA says they ran for nearly 200 million miles and carried more than 775 million passengers.
“These 76 train cars helped move millions of people across the Capital region for decades and we thank them for their faithful service over the years,” CEO Randy Clarke said in a press release. “We recognize the rich history of these cars and they have certainly earned this well-deserved retirement. However, this will give riders a better experience and make way for the Fleet of the Future.”
The cars had mostly been placed in storage during the COVID-19 pandemic but were returned to service as Metrorail dealt with issues that sidelined its 7000-series cars for a prolonged period after wheel issues that led to an October 2021 derailment. A wheel-replacement program is in progress to address the issues with those cars [see “DC Metrorail begins wheel replacement …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 5, 2023].
Two of the cars will be saved for preservations; two others are part of the Metrorail money train that collects cash from fare machines around the system. The rest will be decommissioned in the months ahead, with WMATA removing safety-sensitive parts and hazardous materials.
Current plans call for the next-oldest cars in the fleet, the 3000-series cars built by Breda that began entering service in 1987, to begin to be phased out in 2027. About that time, the agency expects to start introducing its 8000-series “Fleet of the Future” cars, 256 of which are on order from Hitachi Rail [see “Hitachi Rail lands contract …,” News Wire, Oct. 6, 2020]. The agency says it has sufficient equipment to accommodate peak ridership until the new cars arrive, even if ridership increases by 33%.
WMATA better be careful about using “Fleet of the Future” to describe their new Hitachi railcars…that has been registered by BART for their “Fleet of the Future” which are already in service.
Given WMATA’s recent history with unexpected systemic mechanical failures, I wouldn’t have decommissioned the 2000 series until they were sure of the mechanical reliability of the Hitachi cars.