The Montgomery County Delegation to the Maryland General Assembly wrote a letter this week opposing a Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) proposal that they say would cause a “disproportionate service cut” to Red Line train services.
WMATA’s proposed service change would provide more service to Red Line stations between Grosvenor and Silver Spring. In the process, there would be less frequent service to Red Line stations between Shady Grove and Grosvenor and between Silver Spring and Glenmont.
The WMATA said its proposal would “optimize” Red Line service by concentrating train frequency in segments of the Red Line with the greatest number of riders. The change would reduce the transfer times to other Metro lines, WMATA said.
The organization presented the suggestion to its finance and capital committee in late October. Proposed changes to the Red Line have not been implemented.
The proposed turnback locations and impacts on Red Line Metro service. Courtesy of WMATA.
Opponents to the adjustments have said it would exacerbate traffic gridlock along the Georgia and Wisconsin Avenue corridors. Critics have also emphasized that the change could negatively impact Montgomery County commuters.
Dozens of Maryland General Assembly representatives from Montgomery County signed onto the letter of opposition addressed the WMATA chair.
“The proposed reduction in service would disproportionately impact our county and its residents,” Del. Julie Palakovich Carr wrote in a tweet announcing the delegation’s letter in opposition.
WMATA eliminated the turnback style – an earlier end on a bus or rail line used in some scheduled trips – for stations past the Red Line’s Grosvenor station in 2018. The decision resulted from negative service performance and increased ridership, WMATA wrote in a July 2019 summary of the decision.
The WMATA Board voted to eliminate turnback service at the Silver Spring station shortly after.
Lawmakers wrote that it would be a “mistake” for WMATA to implement the turn-back system on the Red Line. The move would be counter to Montgomery County’s goals to concentrate growth near Metro stations, they added.
“We must strenuously object to cuts in service that disproportionately impact the Red Line,” the lawmakers wrote. “This is counter to everything you, the Board and WMATA have been working on to try and improve rail service and bring back ridership.”
The members of the Montgomery County Delegation have pushed back against Metro's proposed reinstatement of the Red Line turnbacks at Grosvenor and Silver Spring. The proposed reduction in service would disproportionately impact our county and its residents. pic.twitter.com/cSCWN6oaW4
— Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr (@palakovichcarr) December 4, 2022
