(Washington DC) Metro shows off newest rail car [View all]

from the WaPo:



[font size="1"]A view from the center to the end of the new rail car shows the future flooring, rails, wind screens and seats. (Robert Thomson – The Washington Post)[/font]


There’s no mistaking Metro’s new rail cars for anything that’s in service now. If we blindfolded a bunch of riders, then opened their eyes inside car No. 7000 now in a Metro workshop in Landover, they wouldn’t immediately know they were aboard a Washington, D.C., transit vehicle. (They’d figure it out pretty quickly by looking at the new signs.)

I got a chance to look at No. 7000 Wednesday afternoon, along with most of the transportation team from The Post. You can see in the photo how this full-scale model looks. So let me tell you how it feels: For those used to traveling aboard the oldest cars in the rail fleet, this is like going from your parents’ home with the shag carpeting, dark wood and heavy drapes to a trendy new downtown apartment, with white walls, bare floors and big windows.

A transit historian might say we’re leaving behind a design from an era when planners weren’t sure D.C. commuters would ride a subway. We’re moving to a transit space that acknowledges many, many people will cram their way aboard the trains.

I’ll tell you what I like about it, but keep in mind that I saw No. 7000 as it stood still in a quiet room with only a handful of very well-behaved people aboard. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/wp/2012/10/24/metro-shows-off-newest-rail-car/