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. 1
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 building 3 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. 2
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. 3
Photo #1 Metro System Map 4
Photo #2 End of the Orange Line, Near WMATA Rail and Bus Control Centers 5
Photo #3 WMATA Rail and Bus Operations Centers are Located in this Building 6
Photo #4 Tour Group Overlooking Rail Operations Control Center 7
Photo #5 Part of Display Screen in Rail Operations Control Center 8
Photo #6 Rail Operations Center Control Desk 9