WASHINGTON — The future of Metro is automatic.
WMATA is working to restore automatic train operation (ATO) throughout the Metro system, and it’s nearly ready.
Metro announced just a few months ago that it planned to roll out ATO on the Red Line by the end of the year, and a goal to employ it throughout the system by next summer. But that all hinges on the safety commission’s approval.
Trains ran automatically from 1976 until 2009. But then ATO was halted after the deadliest crash in Metro history happened on the very same line it wants to bring automation back to — though the National Transportation Safety Board determined that a faulty track sensor was responsible for the crash, not automatic mode itself. And WMATA General Manager Randy Clarke said ATO is more advanced now.
“It’s much safer. It becomes much more reliable. It becomes a more efficient system overall as well. So we’ve been working really hard for a little over two years on this,” Clarke said.
Ever since the crash, SVP of Communications and Signaling Tiffani Jenkins said, they’ve been working to get back to what the system was designed to use — ATO. In researching 42 agencies in other cities, Metro found only eight of them still fully used manual operation like D.C. And they say ATO will enhance on-time performance and reliability, increase safety and improve the passenger ride experience.
“This is just about providing a better service with more reliable equipment,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said they implemented preventative maintenance cycles in line with manufacturer recommendations, replaced equipment, added a new train detection tool and adjusted train location detectors.
ATO is safer, Jenkins said, because it removes a lot of potential for human error. For example, a red signal in the system sends a train on automatic mode’s speed to 0, but in manual mode, the operator can overrun that. And operators always have the power to switch from automatic to manual if they need to for any reason. They can also switch from manual to automatic, but they need permission.
If a train is single tracking because of an issue on a track, it will always be in manual mode, Jenkins said.
Plus, the automatic train protection system is on 24/7, regardless of mode, to keep trains properly distanced.
And ATO will help trains get back to intended speeds, which haven’t been reached since 1986.
To show how the trains work, Metro gave a demo on the Red Line overnight.
An operator worked through multiple simulated scenarios where they may have to switch to manual from ATO or handle any other issues that could come up.
Rail traffic controllers have already been trained, and now Metro is working on training all operators. Before starting the training process, though, Jenkins said they were all asked about their concerns and addressed any trepidation.
Jenkins said this wasn’t just a technical project — it’s also a people project. It’s important to make sure they’re aligned, she said.
Part of that is clearing the narrative about the 2009 crash, she said. Though many people believe the crash was caused by ATO, it was really attributed to a loss of shunting — the technology that tells trains whether there is anything, such as another train, in the way. After the incident, internal engineers developed and patented a loss of shunt tool that runs 24/7 and is evaluated multiple times throughout the day to see if the team needs to proactively evaluate a potential issue. They’ve also replaced old track circuits and upgraded them to generation 3 circuits as part of the current renewal program.
One of the biggest causes of past issues, Jenkins said, was not having good preventative maintenance practices, so that was a priority in the revamped program to move toward ATO.
“It’s about vigilance,” Jenkins said. “It’s about making sure there’s connected communications from our vendors through our engineering team through our safety team through our operations team. A lot of the things we’ve done along with realignment of our teams allows that to happen even more efficiently.”
Throughout the process, engineers worked with maintenance and safety teams. The maintenance department launched a campaign to check every marker coil in the system — static pieces of equipment that give the trains a countdown to how close they are to stopping — to help with smoother stops using ATO.
Metro already began rolling out another form of automation a year ago. Automatic door operations relaunched in December 2023 and it was fully implemented by June 2024.
Doors automatically open, but an operator always manually shuts them to make sure nothing is obstructing the door and everyone is safely clear of them.
“Most people like taking Metro because it’s fast and reliable versus sitting in a car, and so every moment we can make their experience better gives them time back in their life as well,” Clarke said.