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TOUR OF RAIL OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER Washington Metropolitan Area Transport Authority
Monday, September 23, 2013
Introduction
The Transport Chapter of the 1818 Society organized a tour of the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transport Authority’s (WMATA) Rail Operations Control Center on Monday September 23, 2013. A brief
tour was also arranged for the Bus Operations Communications Center which is located in the same
building. A total of 11 persons were in attendance consisting of both 1818 Society members and active
Bank staff. This tour was the result of the considerable efforts of Asif Faiz, and Winnie Wang. Winnie, in
turn, enlisted Shi (Shelly) Xie, Director of Rail Operations Planning & Scheduling who handled much of
the preparatory work for WMATA and escorted the tour group. Charles Dziduch, Director Rail
Operations Control Center, gave an extensive presentation of the Center’s operations and handled a
large number of questions about the Center’s and overall metro operations. Ronald Bodmer, Director,
Office of Emergency Management, gave a power point presentation of the security arrangements for
protecting the metro and bus systems managed by WMATA. An additional short presentation was given
by the Bus Operations Communications Center staff.
Overview of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (WMATA)
WMATA is a large operation with over 10,000 employees, and with large capital investments and
substantial operating costs. The organization had a 2013 budget of $2.6 billion, of which $1.6 billion was
for operations and about $1.0 billion for capital investment. The Metro system revenue covers about
80% of operating costs. However, this statistic does not take into account capital investments and
depreciation of the system.
WMATA operates the second largest metro system and sixth largest bus system in terms of patronage in
the United States. The bus system is ranked lower because much of the suburban bus operations are
handled by jurisdictions outside of the District of Columbia, which is not the case in many if not most
other US metropolitan areas.
There are 5 metro lines in the system. They currently run on 106 miles of track (51 miles underground,
46 on the surface, and 9 aerial) and are served by 86 stations. (The Silver line to Reston, to be opened
soon, will add an additional 12 miles.1) The Red line is the only line running alone on its own dedicated
track. All other lines share the same track. When the Silver line opens, part of the metro system will
operate with three lines sharing the same track. (See photo #1).
The metro system consists of 900 rail cars.2 A total of 132 trains (with 6 and 8 cars) operate during the peak hours. There are 9 train depots in the system, most of which are located at the end of the lines.
1 The Silver line will be routed on existing tracks to Largo.
2 Another reference indicates that the system has 1116 rail cars.
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WMATA has 1,500 buses in its fleet, with about 11,500 bus stops. The WMATA bus system consists of 325 routes on 169 lines. Patronage of the metro system is about 750,000 passengers per week day. During 2012 the metro
carried 212 million passengers and the bus system 132 million. Patronage growth has been flat the last
few years which was a surprise to WMATA officials after many years of growth. Tour officials suggest
that the recession may have been a factor. Service problems may be another. The metro system
transports 48% of all Federal employees in the metro area to work.
The WMATA Control Centers
The rail and bus centers are housed in the Carmen E. Turner building3 near the New Carrollton Station
located on the eastern end of the Orange line. (See Photos #2 and #3). There are connections with
AMTRAK and Greyhound bus services at this station. The headquarters of the IRS is located across the
street from the Station. There is Shuttle bus service from the New Carrollton Station to the control
centers.
The Rail Operations Control Center has a staff of 100 employees. The Center operates 24 hours a day
on three shifts. WMATA is seeking to employ 25-30 additional staff to have more coverage on each of
the shifts. The original WMATA rail operations control center is located at WMATA headquarters near
the Judiciary Square metro station. This station serves as a backup to the primary center and the two
centers can hand off operational control to the other center as needed.
The rail operations control center is a high tech operation with sophisticated systems. (See photos #4,
#5, and #6.) These systems are (a) an Automatic Train Protection System that protects trains by
separating them to avoid collisions, (b) an Automatic Train Supervision System that routes trains and
assists in maintaining adherence to schedules, and (c) an Automatic Train Operations System that
directly controls trains. Since the train collision in 2009 caused by a malfunction, this last system is not
being used. Instead, Metrorail operators have been operating the trains exclusively in manual mode.
The Automatic Train Protection System still limits the maximum speed of every train that is in service.
The tour also included a brief visit to the Bus Operations Communications Center. This center is mainly
concerned with handling incidents. Bus dispatching is handled separately at the 10 bus depots. This
center coordinates with police, fire, and other departments in addressing incidents on the WMATA
operated bus system.
Metro Operations Challenges
WMATA officials outlined a number of challenges as described below in operating the metro system.
These challenges need to be addressed by the Rail Operations Control Center on a daily basis.
System Bottlenecks. As mentioned above, the metro system operates with more than one line on most
of the track mileage. This can create traffic bottlenecks, especially at times of high usage or when track
3 This building, or a part of it, housed offices of the now defunct Hechinger Company.
3
maintenance compels trains to single track. A particularly serious bottleneck is in the area of the
Rosslyn interchange and tunnel under the Potomac. The addition of the Silver line will accentuate this
problem (see Photo #1).
Manual Operation of Trains. As indicated above, manual operation of trains has been mandated since
the 2009 accident due to the unreliability of the automated system. This has resulted in jerky operation
of trains as they come to a stop in stations, among other problems. Metro officials indicated to the
group that automatic control is nearly ready to be reintroduced on the Red line and gradually this
service will be reinstated on the other lines.
Vertical Transportation. The metro rail system has extensive investments in facilitating vertical
transportation including 588 escalators and 281 elevators. WMATA officials are keenly aware of public
dissatisfaction with the escalator problem and are taking steps to address this. They cited the new
escalators at Dupont Circle and additional new installations with different technology at other stations.
However, the solution will be costly and take time. Escalator replacement can take six months or more.
Extensive training is conducted to improve maintenance procedures.
Track maintenance. The metro system is aging and extensive track work is required to keep the system
in satisfactory operating condition. On a typical night there are 50-70 work areas on the system, many if
not most of them requiring single tracking. Single tracking typically starts at 10pm. Track crews typically
have 2-6 hours to get work done depending on the task. The main hours of track work are 10pm to
6am. Track inspections take place from 10pm to 3 am.
Water Infiltration Problems. Parts of the metro system, particularly along the Red line, are plagued
with serious water infiltration. This has been caused by tunnel construction at a time when the available
technology was not able to avoid infiltration. As a result the water infiltration has caused a number of
problems with track and electric system maintenance. Alternative solutions, all costly and time
consuming are being explored. The most recent proposal calls for a membrane to be placed on the
inside of tunnels which in turn would catch infiltrating water and route it to suitable drainage
receptacles.
WMATA Police Department
WMATA operates the only tri-state police department in the country. The Department has a staff of 450
police officers, 127 additional special police, and 27 civilian staff. The metro police are concerned with
safety and security on both the metro and bus systems.
Sources
A wealth of additional information on WMATA can be found at the WMATA web site and the Wikipedia WMATA site.
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Photo #1
Metro System Map
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Photo #2
End of the Orange Line, Near WMATA Rail and Bus Control Centers
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Photo #3
WMATA Rail and Bus Operations Centers are Located in this Building
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Photo #4
Tour Group Overlooking Rail Operations Control Center
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Photo #5
Part of Display Screen in Rail Operations Control Center
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Photo #6
Rail Operations Center Control Desk