The WMATA subway system should switch to four door subway cars

Wikipedia image of an R160A NYC subway car with four doors (M Street train, entering Hewes Street station) by Adam E. Moreira.

I've been meaning to write this idea for awhile, but I was seeking a Washington Post Dr. Gridlock feature that I couldn't find (it turns out that the Sunday Metro section Dr. Gridlock features are images that aren't normally indexed within the normal search engine that the Post uses).

And I still can't track it down, but I don't want to wait on the idea... (today is the day for doing some writing).

Going forward, to speed throughput--as one of the biggest choke points on the subway system is the small size of the platform and the time it takes people to exit and enter train cars--is to add one door, from three doors to four doors.

The 72 feet long NYC Subway cars have four doors. WMATA cars are 75 feet long, but only have three doors.


See this past DCist entry, "The Future of Metro Rail Cars" and "Metro Eager To Order 648 High-Tech Rail Cars," from the Washington Post, for more details about the new 7000 series of WMATA subway cars WITH ONLY THREE DOORS.

WMATA's next generation 7000 series subway cars have three doors, just like the rest of the subway cars currently used within the subway system. WMATA photo.

NYC R160 subway car, with four doors, from the NYC Subway website. Image by Peter Ehrlich.