WASHINGTON, D.C. — Trains on Metro’s Red Line in Washington, D.C., could run with nobody in the cab as early as 2033 under a modernization plan that would take a step almost no American subway system has taken.
The Metro Board of Directors endorsed the nearly $1 billion Red Line upgrade in April. It calls for a new communications-based train control signal system and platform screen doors that keep riders off the tracks, along with other technology meant to add capacity and improve safety.
The Red Line opened more than 50 years ago and carries more people each day than the region’s three airports combined, according to the transit agency. Automated features on Metro were switched off after the 2009 collision near Fort Totten that killed nine people, and a cruise-control-style system came back on the Red Line in 2024 and on the rest of the network last year.
Metro CEO Randy Clarke has said the signal failure behind the Fort Totten crash was unrelated to the current system. He has also said staff would still be needed to maintain track and handle emergencies even if trains drive themselves.
Transit unions have opposed automation in New York and other cities, warning about riders having to evacuate on their own in tunnels with a live third rail. Los Angeles is studying a fully automated subway beneath the Santa Monica Mountains, and Honolulu already runs a driverless elevated line.
Section: More Washington DC crime news
Filed under: Washington DC Traffic News
