Some older Metrorail cars will soon go back into service as inspections into potentially faulty 7000 series railcars continues.
Metro took all 7000 series cars off the tracks after a derailment on the Blue Line earlier this month. There were no injuries.
It's still unclear when inspections will finish.
Meanwhile, riders are experiencing longer wait times with less trains in service.
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"It’s 20 minutes. It’s not what I was hoping for," Metro rider Zack Smith said Thursday.
"It’s annoying because Metro is my only source of transportation because I can’t drive. I have a health issue,” Metro rider Deborah Falanga said.
Falanga said she only has to go one stop over to go grocery shopping, but it takes her much longer to do that chore since the 7000 cars were taken out of service.
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"[I] come down and it’s 30 minute - sometimes 40 minute - wait. I got things to do at home. Come on!” she said.
Metro said some trains in the 2000 series and 6000 series, which had its own safety issues because two trains actually separated on the tracks, will be repaired and put into rotation to decrease wait times.
Smith said he's willing to wait as long as Metro steps up its safety.
"I hope they get it fixed. If it’s going to be unsafe, then the cars shouldn’t be on the tracks," he said.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was once on Metro's board, said Thursday she's keeping an eye on inspections of the troubled 7000 series railcars.
"I know the inspections are happening at the rate they're supposed to happen and I’m hopeful that the cars that have been taken out of service for inspection will be back in service very soon,” Bowser said.
