All Things WMATA 7000 Series

DiscoveryAnalysis wrote:Anyone have any idea why the 7Ks can't make yard platform stops?

Some measures need to be put in place to ensure that the 7k trains platform properly at a yard stop. The relocation of the end doors toward the center is one issue, and the other is both leaves of the door open when keyed open, versus just the rear leaf on the legacy cars.

"DiscoveryAnalysis"
Anyone have any idea why the 7Ks can't make yard platform stops?

"smallfire85"
Some measures need to be put in place to ensure that the 7k trains platform properly at a yard stop. The relocation of the end doors toward the center is one issue, and the other is both leaves of the door open when keyed open, versus just the rear leaf on the legacy cars.

This is not rocket surgery. The yard platforms I am familiar with are slightly longer then the total width of the door opening. The end doors on the 7k cars are roughly 2' closer to the center of the car. The only thing an operator need to do when making yard platform stop with a train of 7k car is to stop roughly 2' beyond the point he / she would stop at if he / she were operating a train of legacy rolling stock.

WMATA could also solve the alleged issue by lengthening the platforms by 3'.

This is the same WMATA who's operators couldn't count to 6 when it came to stopping the trains at the right spot on a station platform. The yard platforms are a much smaller target....

Sand Box John wrote: This is not rocket surgery. The yard platforms I am familiar with are slightly longer then the total width of the door opening. The end doors on the 7k cars are roughly 2' closer to the center of the car. The only thing an operator need to do when making yard platform stop with a train of 7k car is to stop roughly 2' beyond the point he / she would stop at if he / she were operating a train of legacy rolling stock.

WMATA could also solve the alleged issue by lengthening the platforms by 3'.

That I know, just answering the question as to why they don't make the stops currently and the reasoning behind it. The solution can be as simple as posting a 7k yard stop sign, as many other systems do. Like you said, it isn't difficult at all, just know your equipment and where to stop it. Those platforms are wide enough to almost fit two pairs of doors side by side, so there isn't even a need to modify them.

I've been on a 7k or two that made a yard stop early on after their debut into revenue, but none for a few months now. RAIL is going to have to start implementing the stops sooner or later, since more that half the fleet will be 7k in a few years. That or they're going to have to start basing the operators out of Franconia-Springfield, Huntington, NoMa, and/or Rhode Island Avenue, since a lot of shifts currently change at the yard stops.

Heh, rocket surgery... X-D

Just saw cars 7216, 7217, 7218 and 7219 testing on the Green line around 9:30 pm.

We're going to blink and soon we'll be seeing cars 7300 and up.

According to Metro's most recent vital signs report (page 4), Metro has retired 90 1000-series cars and is now accepting 20 7000-series cars a month. http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/board_ ... TOPOST.pdf

That means around a total of 550 7k cars in the fleet by this time next year.

Earlier someone said they were also speeding up the retirement of the 1k's. If those are leaving as fast as the 7k's are coming then we can expect to see the last 1K cars leave service around March or April 2017. Then most of the 4k's will probably be gone before 2018.

Not sure if its related to SafeTrack but it seems like all or most of the 7k's have been removed from service on the Red line. I was on the red line most of today and I did not see a single 7k train. All the 8 car trains were older models.

It's funny I was coming here to report the same thing. I haven't ridden on a single 7K train since the SafeTrack surge.

I'm guessing Metro sent most of them to the eastern/Glenmont side of the Red Line since that segment is the most disrupted by the surge, and placed most of the "legacy" fleet in 8-car consists (which now account for the vast majority of Red Line trains) to serve the west/Shady Grove side. There is at least one 7K set still on the west side though (I've seen it in the morning rush the past couple of days).

That must be bad luck. At Twinbrook this morning, there was a 7K when I pulled into the parking lot, and six minutes later, I boarded another 7K going downtown. I have been seeing them quite frequently despite the surge.

I finally saw one today at Dupont circle. They are still around but not like before. At least not on the west side.

I suspect some have been moved to the Green line for added capacity. The Green and Yellow lines are handling a lot of the traffic from the eastern side of the Red line with SafeTrack.

It's just coincidence of your timing. I see just as many 7K sets now as I did before the surge. On the shady grove to noma route.

I dunno, I still have yet to ride one since SafeTrack started. Before it would be approx. 50-50. I also realized that they're only operating 4 trains in service on the eastern side of the Red Line at any one time, so Chris's hypothesis about them moving to the Green Line sounds right.

Just saw cars 7232, 7233, 7234 and 7235 testing on the Green line.