For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 19, 2019
ROCKVILLE, Md., March 19, 2019—The Montgomery County Council’s Transportation and Environment (T&E) Committee applauds the vote of the Metro Board of Directors’ Finance and Capital Committee on Thursday to end the ‘Silver Spring turnback’ of Red Line trains. Presently, half of all trains on the eastern portion of the Red Line turn around at Silver Spring rather than going all the way to Glenmont, posing a significant inconvenience to Montgomery County riders.
In late February, the T&E Committee hosted the Metro Town Hall in downtown Silver Spring to draw attention to this important issue. The event, which featured Metro Board members Michael Goldman and Kathy Porter, was attended by more than 130 local Metro riders who face longer waits due to the halved service on the Red Line north of Silver Spring. Dozens of riders and community leaders spoke at the forum to detail how the lack of full service affects their commutes to work and their ability to get home in time for childcare, evening errands and other daily activities.
“I’m happy to hear that the Board’s Finance and Capital Committee heard our voices loud and clear about the need for full service to the Red Line,” said Councilmember Tom Hucker, chair of the T&E Committee. Riders at Forest Glen, Wheaton and Glenmont pay full fares and get half as many trains. That has to stop. So our Metro Town Hall provided a forum for riders to describe how the lack of full service to those stations causes negative ripple effects on their daily lives.”
In December, Metro ended the long standing ‘Grosvenor turnback’ on the western portion of the Red Line, providing full rail service to White Flint, Twinbrook, Rockville and Shady Grove stations. Ending the Silver Spring turnback would provide full service to the entire Red Line from Glenmont to Shady Grove, reducing wait times for thousands of riders. At a time when Metro is struggling to attract riders, bringing more frequent trains and shorter waits to underserved stations will persuade more riders to use Metrorail.
“I applaud the WMATA board’s initial step towards eliminating the Silver Spring turnback, as they have already done for the Grosvenor turnback,” said Councilmember Hans Riemer. “Metro could also run eight-car trains rather than six-car trains, and run trains more frequently, including on the weekends when ridership has dropped severely. Several years ago, I successfully pushed for the County to include these rider-friendly improvements in our transportation priorities letter to the Governor, which is how we express our request to the State and in turn to Metro. I am delighted that we are making progress. I urge the WMATA Board to follow through on all of these necessary improvements.”
“Eliminating the Silver Spring turnback is a move in the right direction,” said Councilmember Evan Glass. “I’m glad that my colleagues and I were able to successfully push WMATA toward this decision so that Montgomery County residents will have shorter wait times and better service. As a regular user of public transportation, I share the frustration of all riders who depend on the Metro system and often have to wait in extreme weather when transferring trains. I hope WMATA continues to get us back on track so we can once again be a world class Metro system.”
“I encourage all Metro riders, especially those from Montgomery County, to contact the Metro Board and urge them to support their committee’s recommendation to end the turnback,” said Councilmember Hucker. “The committee’s vote is a giant step in the right direction, and now the full Board must do what is best for riders and vote to fund full Red Line service.”
A full Board vote on the Committee’s funding recommendation to end the turnback is expected on March 28.
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Release ID: 19-102