WASHINGTON — It's truly the end of an era.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is retiring the last 76 of its 2000-series trains on Friday.
Metro began using the 2000-series in 1983 and the transit authority lauds the nearly 200 million miles they've traveled and that they've carried more than 775 million passengers.
"Metro trains are built to last generally around 40 years or so," WMATA said in a news release. "Reliability has decreased over the years and parts are getting harder to procure."
The transit authority said that the 2000-series had issues nearly four times as often as the much newer 7000-series trains.
“These 76 train cars helped move millions of people across the Capital region for decades and we thank them for their faithful service over the years,” Metro General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke said in a news release. “We recognize the rich history of these cars and they have certainly earned this well-deserved retirement. However, this will give riders a better experience and make way for the Fleet of the Future.”
So, for Metro riders who absolutely love carpet in their trains, the announcement is somber news.
"The 2000-series trains debuted in 1983 and gave Metro enough trains to begin service to Huntington and Fairfax County for the first time," Metro said. "They were manufactured by Breda in Italy and then assembled in Beech Grove, Indiana. Their arrival was delayed about two years due to a factory breakdown in West Germany and a labor strike in a Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, brake factory."
Metro said the trains were mostly in storage during the pandemic but had seen a resurgence in recent years while WMATA dealt with other issues in the system – like the problems that plague the 7000-series trains, for example.
The transit authority says they'll hang onto two of the 2000-series train cars to preserve them for history.
Metro said it plans to start phasing out its 3000-series trains starting in 2027. At that time, they plan to start phasing in the new 8000-series trains.
Metro retired the 1000-series in 2016 and 2017, the 4000-series in 2017, and the 5000-series in 2018 and 2019.
