https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2021/12/09/dc-metro-trains-ntsb-investigation/



Metro plans to reintegrate its suspended line of trains gradually — by slowly replacing older models with 7000-series cars that will decrease wait times to less than 15 minutes — after the agency gets permission to begin using them again.

The early plan, presented Thursday at Metro’s board meeting, marked the first time Metro officials have publicly said how they will reincorporate more than half of the agency’s suspended rail-car fleet. The return would ease a train shortage that has hobbled the region and frustrated transit riders for two months.

As the agency formulates an exit strategy from its largest crisis in six years, Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said Thursday that he does not know when the suspended cars will be reinstated by the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission. The watchdog agency ordered all 748 cars in the series out of service in October after a National Transportation Safety Board investigation discovered a dangerous wheelset defect in several cars.

“We hope to know more about the timing of the return before the Christmas holiday, but all steps in the process must be satisfied to proceed forward,” Wiedefeld said.