More Metrorail trains will be serving Red Line stations in Forest Glen, Wheaton and Glenmont this summer.
The board of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority voted Thursday morning to adopt a fiscal 2020 budget that includes funds to eliminate what was known as the Silver Spring turnback, where half of the outbound trains would stop.
Starting July 1, all northbound Red Line trains will travel to the terminus of Glenmont on the line’s eastern side.
“We think it could further encourage the revitalization of Wheaton and other locations on the eastern side of the Red Line and with the opening of the new county office building it’ll make a big difference,” said Montgomery County’s deputy transportation director Chris Conklin, who pointed to the opening of a county office building near the Wheaton Metro station in 2020.
In addition to the end of the turnbacks, the $3.5 billion budget also includes other service improvements such as doubling rush hour trains and increasing capacity by running eight-car trains, rather than mixing six-car trains.
Trains will stop running before midnight during weeknights following a vote by the board last month to maintain current operating hours so nighttime maintenance work can continue.
Mike Goldman, the Montgomery County representative on the board, said the budget represents a 10 percent increase in spending over last year’s budget. He said this year’s service improvements are “valuable.”
The end of the Silver Spring turnbacks follows elimination of turnbacks at the Grosvenor-Strathmore station in North Bethesda on the western side of the Red Line in December 2018.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
