Metro set to bring back automated trains by December

WASHINGTON — Metro wants to try automatic train operation again, and soon. By this December, it hopes to automate the Red Line.

Automatic train operation was halted 15 years ago after the deadliest crash in Metro history happened on the same line it wants to bring automation back to. The 2009 Red Line crash at Fort Totten killed nine people and injured 80 others.

In March 2023, Metro announced it wanted to bring automation back by the end of the year, but it didn’t happen. Now, Metro wants it to happen by the end of this year.

A 2022 American Public Transportation Association peer reviewed report said that Metro’s automatic train operation security system has been enhanced, according to Metro. 

Here’s how Metro is doing it: Metro says the new automatic train control system has three subsystems. First, the ATP subsystem ensures trains are separated and tells trains how fast they can go. This system is in place for both manual and automatic train operation. Second, the ATS subsystem is not a fail-safe system, but it allows the Metro Integrated Command and Communications Center (MICC) to remotely communicate train speed. Third, the ATO subsystem accelerates and decelerates the train without a person interacting with it. It uses wayside markers to stop the train properly at each station.

The automated tracks have been updated, too. Metro says it has replaced the older track circuits with newer models and adjusted marker coils so it can track train location more accurately.

After the December implementation on the Red Line, Metro wants to have automation implemented systemwide by spring 2025.

Metro says it has tested more than 25% of its fleet and that no safety issues have been observed. It wants automatic train operation to become its standard, but in abnormal conditions, it says it will return to manual.