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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.

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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