Metro To Make Rush Hour Adjustments

Metro will be making adjustments to rush hour service in the spring, The Washington Post reports. The changes come in response to changing population patterns and to get ready to accomodate service on the Silver Line, which is scheduled to begin in late 2013.

Starting in June, the peak period service will include more Orange Line trains coming from the line’s western end in Northern Virginia into D.C. Fewer Blue Line trains will serve the downtown’s west side. More trains from Northern Virginia will serve the downtown’s east side. 

Reasons for the change: Ridership on the eastern side of downtown is growing faster than on the western side. Rush-hour trains entering the Rosslyn tunnel from Virginia into the District are jammed. The tunnel is handling the maximum number of trains — 26 per hour at peak periods, the Post reports.

As far as the Silver Line, Metro says it wants to give riders time to get used to the new patterns and for Metro to make possible adjustments before the new line is up and running.

Read the rest of the story here.

Meanwhile, The Washington Examiner reports that  Metro predicts a 5 percent decline in ridership in the next budget year.