Washington, D.C.'s Metro transit system plans to retire its problematic 4000-series cars beginning later this month.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager and CEO Paul J. Wiedefeld made the announcement that the removal of system’s "least-reliable" rail cars will begin next week.
The group of 100 cars were manufactured by AnsaldoBreda of Genoa, Italy (now Hitachi Rail Italy), in 1991 and operate an average of 27,259 miles between delays. That contrasts with Metro's best-performing cars, the 6000-series, which average more than 103,000 miles between delays.
In November 2016, Metro demoted the 4000-series cars from leading trains after problems occurred with the cars' automatic train control technology.
Metro in February 2016 began retiring its oldest cars, the 1000 series, as new 7000-series cars arrive on the property. More than half of the 1000-series fleet has been retired to date, and both the 1000- and 4000-series cars will be retired concurrently as of next week.
Wiedefeld said that under the “Back2Good” program, the agency has committed to having all 1000- and 4000-series cars out of passenger service by the end of this year. He said railcar mechanical issues accounted for nearly two-thirds of system delays in 2016.
The first retired 4000-series car is scheduled to be moved off Metro property on Feb. 15. Retired cars are transported by trailer to Baltimore where they are scrapped.