Metro will increase weekday service along the Blue, Orange and Silver lines starting Monday after months of rider complaints about slow commutes and crowded trains.
Trains will run on those lines at least every 20 minutes during weekday service, WMATA announced Friday.
However, weekend riders will experience slightly longer wait times. Blue, Orange and Silver line trains will run every 24 minutes on Saturday and Sunday, according to the announcement.
Metro has already boosted service on the Red Line, which arrives every 12 minutes, and the Green and Yellow lines, which arrive every 20 minutes. The wait times for the Red, Green and Yellow lines will not change over the weekend.
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Metro says the new service improvements will add capacity, reduce crowding on platforms and offer commuters trains as frequently as every seven to 10 minutes at stations that are served by multiple lines, the announcement added.
Last month, Metro announced that all 7000-series trains will remain out of service until spring as engineers and other experts determine the root cause of the derailment on the Blue Line in October, which has slowed service down for several months.
Metro maintenance staff have concentrated on restoring older railcars to get more trains running.
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“We appreciate the patience of our customers,” General Manager and Chief Executive Officer Paul J. Wiedefeld said. “Our focus on making the legacy fleet available is allowing us to gradually add trains for passenger service, and I thank our workforce for their dedication and around-the-clock efforts to improve rail service.”
