The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), also known as Metro, announced the retirement of the system’s 4000-series rail cars, which are by far Metro’s least reliable, traveling an average of only 27,259 miles between delays. By contrast, the best performing cars, the 6000-series, are nearly four times more reliable, traveling more than 103,000 miles between delays.
The first retired 4000-series car is scheduled to be moved off Metro property on 15 February. Retired cars are transported by trailer to Baltimore where they are scrapped. The 4000-series cars will be retired concurrently with the 1000-series cars, which have been taken out of operating service since February 2016.
Under the “Back2Good” program, all 1000- and 4000-series cars will be out of passenger service by the end of this year to drive down delays experienced by customers. Railcar mechanical issues accounted for nearly two-thirds of delays in 2016.
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