WASHINGTON — Metro’s board of directors will vote this week on whether to bring back late-night hours, returning the rail system to hours of operation not seen since June 2017.
The push has riled Metro and local leaders alike, with Metro’s largest union of employees insisting in a statement on Monday that the agency “can restore late night service and maintain the system's safety.”
The plan up for a board vote on Thursday will keep trains running from 5 a.m. to 12 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Sunday. If approved, the new operating hours would go into effect July 1, 2020.
Transit agency staff has argued for current, shorter hours so that crews have more time to do preventative maintenance overnight. “Staff recommends that WMATA maintain the current reduced Metrorail span of service,” says the motion in front of Metro’s board.
Metro has said that returning to pre-2017 service levels will cause a five percent overall drop in rail reliability, forcing the agency to limit trains to one track in at least two locations during the week, and increase the time between trains to nearly a half hour after 10 p.m.
On Friday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted a petition asking residents to support the restoration of late-night service. “It's time we give residents and businesses a metro system that works as hard and as late as they do,” said the Tweet.
Board members representing The District have urged the return of late-night service, including midnight closings on weekdays and 3 a.m. closing on weekends. If Metro's board takes no action, Metrorail operating hours will return to a similar schedule this July.
