All Things WMATA 7000 Series

I have not seen any 4 car trains but they should absolutely do that. There is no need for such capacity at certain times of day.

Longer headways means higher shop time and fewer drivers. I would certainly prefer 4 car trains at shorter headways with the same throughput of cars as 6 car trains in the low ridership hours.

Ridership could likely fit in a single car or at most 2 cars during much of the off-peak hours with my observations being only perhaps 20% of seats taken in typical cars.

It appears the design of the 7000 series can be configured to run in either 4 or 8 car trains, but not 6.

They could run 4 car 7000 series trains on nights and weekends when ridership is lower. This would also save electricity as the 7000 series use more electricity than the older cars

Labor hours are a much bigger expense than juice, but I agree. For late service WMATA should consider running 4-car Blue service in particular, whether full-line, Rosslyn-Springfield, or Alexandria-Springfield only. If splitting a set to operate means that another full set can get maintenance in a night, I’m all for it.

"davinp"
It appears the design of the 7000 series can be configured to run in either 4 or 8 car trains, but not 6.

They could run 4 car 7000 series trains on nights and weekends when ridership is lower. This would also save electricity as the 7000 series use more electricity than the older cars

I've said it multiple times, there is nothing technically or mechanically preventing WMATA from running 7k cars in 6 car consists. The 7k cars are married pairs just like their aluminum cousins. The only difference is, they don't have a revenue service operators cab on the F end of the B car of the married pair.

I have zero faith in WMATA personnel constantly assembling and disassembling train sets switching between 6 and 8 car configurations based on time and day. They can barely manage to operate without incident without having to do that.

"MCL1981"
I have zero faith in WMATA personnel constantly assembling and disassembling train sets switching between 6 and 8 car configurations based on time and day. They can barely manage to operate without incident without having to do that.

Why. They have been doing it routinely for most of the last 40 years.

When Silver Spring was the terminal station back in the 70s and 80s I witness WMATA adding or subtracting cars from trains at the platform several times.

Their recent performance doesn't leave me with much faith these days.

"MCL1981"
Their recent performance doesn't leave me with much faith these days.

Your lack of confidence is likely the result of WMATA's contradictive and convoluted operating rules, not the actual ability of employees to safely preforming said task.

Couple of observations:

Spotted 7490-7491 on SV

I've stopped seeing the ABABABBA layout and now every 7K seems to be ABBAABBA. I wonder why...

"YOLO"
Couple of observations:

Spotted 7490-7491 on SV

I've stopped seeing the ABABABBA layout and now every 7K seems to be ABBAABBA. I wonder why...

Likely to convince folks that the 7k cars are are married quads to erase the idea that they can be run in 6 car consists.

YOLO wrote:Couple of observations:

Spotted 7490-7491 on SV

I've stopped seeing the ABABABBA layout and now every 7K seems to be ABBAABBA. I wonder why...

7499 was in acceptance testing on the 18th.

Sounds like it's just simpler for WMATA to run 4 and 8 car consists. A minimum of cutting and assembling different amounts of cars. I kind of agree, it's better to keep things simple.

If the yard builds the consists consistently the dispatcher never has to ask if the center of the train has cabs when there is a need to spit the train.
abbaabba prevents cutting two end cars to create a six car train, which would be nice for capacity if one of the end pairs failed.
But I can see where abbaabba gives a consistent split point. Always a full cab at each end of the train.

Exactly my point. A lot to be said for consistency.

Saw 7500-7503 testing on the former rush-plus yellow route this morning. Realistically, 7499 is car #500, but the number threshold is passed!

An aside to running shorter consists: WMATA's current berthing policy is to have all revenue trains stop at the end of the platform (8 car marker) to service the platform. Running shorter trains would require a rehash of the policy (including training all the operators brought on after the enactment of the current policy) to have shorter consists stop at the appropriate car marker - which is missing at some stations, or give customers longer platform walks to/from the exits at stations like Addison Road.