Metro riders may no longer have to stand in front of a Red Line train’s doors waiting for them to open.
Metro will begin certifying operators who have been trained to use Metro’s auto doors function. This feature enables the doors to open immediately as the train stops at a station.
According to Metro, immediately opened doors are safer and eliminate the need for operators to manually open and close them. Up until now, train operators must stick their head out the window and take a few seconds to verify they are opening the doors on the correct side of the train.
Then they need to press a button to open the doors. This method can take up to 15 seconds and occurs more than 20,000 times a day, according to Metro officials.
Under the new system, signals at the platform let the train know which side to open automatically as it enters a station platform. Operators will still stick their head out the window to ensure riders are safe before manually closing the doors.
“Using Auto Doors eliminates human error from the process of operating our train doors, meaning a safer, smoother trip,” Chief Operations Officer Brian Dwyer said.
“Anyone who uses Metrorail has experienced the wait, standing at the door wondering when the doors will open. Our customers tell us they want Auto Doors back and this change will improve customer experience and safety,” he said in a news release.
Metro has been testing Auto Doors during off-hours for months and the system performed without any safety issues more than 2,500 times, according to the news release.
Red Line 🔴 Customers: Today we start certifying train operators on Auto Doors. That means doors opening faster, saving secs at each stop. Learn more: https://t.co/YJ9krAsPcj #wmata pic.twitter.com/nk3CuEXgBD
— Metro Forward (@wmata) October 18, 2023
